President mourns death of Syed Ashraf

President M Abdul Hamid has mourned the death of Awami League presidium member and Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraful Islam.

The President, in a condolence message, expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of Syed Asharf.

“His death is an irreparable loss to the country’s political arena . . . People will remember his contributions with due respect for long,” he said.

Hamid also conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul.

Syed Ashraf breathed his last at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok around 9:45pm after battling against fatal disease lung cancer. He was 68.

He was elected MP from Kishoreganj-1 constituency in the 11th Jatiya Sangsad election on December 30.

Syed Ashraful Islam was born on January 1, 1950 in Mymensingh. His father was the acting president of Mujibnagar government Syed Nazrul Islam. Ashraful Islam was a member of freedom fighters for the liberation war 1971.

In 1996 he was elected Member of Parliament after getting nomination from Awami League and performed his duty as the state minister for civil aviation and tourism ministry. He was also elected MP in 2001.

From 2001 to 2005 he was the member of parliamentary standing committee for ministry of foreign affairs.

He was also elected MP in the general election of 2008 and in 2009 he was given the charge of LGRD and cooperatives ministry as the minister. He was even elected MP in the election of 2014 and again was given the charge of LGRD and cooperatives ministry.

On July 16, 2015 Syed Ashraful Islam was given the responsibility of Public Administration ministry as the Minister. He served the post till the death.

Syed Ashraful Islam played his role as the general secretary of Awami League from 2009 to 2016.

MHK