Dhaka: Recitation artist Kazi Arif died undergoing treatment at a hospital in New York on Saturday night.

Bangladesh Recitation Coordination Council General Secretary Ahkam Ullah said Kazi Arif was declared ‘clinically dead’ at about Bangladesh time 10:30am on Saturday. The physicians will remove the life support at about New York time 8:30am on Sunday.

The first namaz-e-janaza of Kazi Arif, also an architect, will be held at New York’s Jamaica Muslim Centre after the Magrib prayer.

Ahkam Ullah said the body of Arif’s younger daughter will brought back his body to country by an Emirates flight on 2 May. The flight will land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at about 7:45am.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her deep shock at the death of freedom fighter Kazi Arif.

Kazi Arif was born on 31 October, 1952 in Faridpur’s Rajbarhi and grew up in Chittagong city. He is a cultural figure and writer as well. He fought under the command of Sector Commander Major Rafiqul Islam in 1971.

After the war he began studying at BUET and continued his work in the fields of literature, arts and culture and became one of the most renowned recitation artists in Bangladesh.