Those Remembered Never Die – Tribute to Guru Suruj Dewan

Sir Frank Peters

Sir Frank Peters

Death is said to be the inheritance of us all, but some people never die. They simply leave our view, but are still here among us.

While a person is remembered he is never dead.

This is true of the magnanimous Bangladeshi Freedom Fighters who gave their lives in 1971 to bring to reality a gallant dream; the students who sacrificed their lives to protect and save their beloved Bengali language from extinction in 1952, and more recently in July-August 2024 those who forfeited their Allah-given lives in pursuit of a noble cause. While they are remembered and given the respect they so richly deserve, they will never die, even if only in the minds of their families and their local community.

Guru Suruj Dewan._SirFrankPeters@gmail.com_

Collectively they are members of the Never-to-be-forgotten fraternity

Guru Suruj Dewan is also among them. He was an inspiration to his entire community of Haydarabad Ward 39, Gazipur.

Every year since his passing, the entire village has become united in remembrance, prayer, and in deep mourning in his honour. This year was no exception.

The man was loved by all who knew him personally and admired by those who knew him by reputation. 

Devoted to caring for others

He devoted his life to caring for the welfare of people on earth and helping them to prepare their souls for the afterlife. He was a man of God and a man of peace who never failed to demonstrate love for all mankind, regardless of race, creed or nationality.

Guru Suruj had business opportunities presented to him that would have made him rich (and famous), but his ambition was never to become rich (or famous), only to serve his fellowman in body, soul and mind.

To achieve his mission in life he studied by sunlight during the day and in his penny-candle light tin room by night, to became a qualified homeopathic.

He was no way what one might say ‘well-off’ and could have done with financial help himself, but without charge or obligation to pay at a later date, he gave

medicine to the poor who could not afford it and he did this consistently for 30-years.

He attributes his awakening to the nationally renowned Guru Rajjob Ali Dewan as his spiritual mentor who opened his eyes to universal truths.

When Guru Dewan’s death was announced, many shops in the village closed and hundreds of people attended his funeral service to show their respect.

Guru Suruj led a humble, modest life and dressed himself in simple white inexpensive clothing. He was void of all materialistic trappings, and wore no jewellery not even a watch. I knew him for over two decades. He was the first to speak with me in broken English when I first visited Haydarabad.

Undoubtedly, he was a Holy man who taught by example,and was easy to spot in a crowd.

Towards the end he suffered pitiably from asthma attacks that crippled his movements and made his life somewhat of a misery although he was surrounded by copious love.

He was father to Anora Begum and Nasir Dewan from his first marriage and stepfather to Ali Akbar (now deceased), Shaheda Azad, Ali Nawaz, Moriym Akter and Halima Sayed Badhan from his second wife, Hamida.

Both Suruj and Hamida were devoted to each other and shared similar spiritual beliefs. Hamida, a renowned midwife and celebrity in her own right, delivered hundreds of babies in Haydarabad and surrounding villages. She would have won the Midwife of the Year Award countless times, if they had existed. 

Guru Suruj was a man of immense inner strength, inner peace, courage and dignity. He died peacefully with his head on the left shoulder of his loving wife, Hamida, at 5.20am on September 01, 2018.

He will be fondly remembered for his astonishing spirituality and having lovingly touched and enriched the lives of many.

(Sir Frank Peters is a former newspaper and magazine publisher and editor, royal goodwill ambassador, humanitarian, and a foreign friend of Bangladesh. <SirFrankPeters@gmail.com>)