PM takes responsibility for Syed Shamsul Haque's treatment

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today visited versatile writer and poet Syed Shamsul Haque at the United Hospital at Gulshan in the capital, BSS reports.

"The premier went to the hospital at about 4.15 pm and spent around 40 minutes beside the octogenarian poet who is undergoing treatment at the hospital for lung cancer," PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told BSS.

He said the prime minister told Syed Haque that she would take all responsibilities for his treatment. At one stage of talking with Sheikh Hasina, the poet became emotional, Karim added.

Sheikh Hasina also talked to the attending doctors and wished early recovery of the poet.

The poet's wife Dr Anwara Syed Haque, son Ditiya Syed Haque and PM's Special Assistant Mahbubul Hoque Shakil were present on the occasion, among others.

Syed Haque returned home on Sept 2 after four months of medical treatment at Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

He went to London on April 15 to treat his ailing lungs, where tests detected cancer.

The 80-year-old writer won the Bangla Academy Award in 1966, Ekushey Padak in 1984 and Bangladesh's highest civilian honour, Independence Award, in 2000 for his outstanding contribution to Bangla literature.

His literary genius spreads across genres and he is known to wield equal mastery over essays, novel, poetry, and plays.

Some of his best-known plays are considered milestones in the history of theatre in Bangladesh.