Valiant freedom fighter Sadeque Hossain Khoka, who was a vice-chairman of BNP and a mayor of undivided Dhaka City Corporation, was laid to rest at Jurain Graveyard Thursday evening. As per his own wish, Khoka was buried at the graveyard beside the graves of his father and mother immediate after the last namaz-e-janaza held at Dhupkhola playground in the capital.
Earlier, the namaz-e-Janaza of the veteran political leader was held at the South Plaza of National Parliament. Current and former MPs, leaders of different political parties and the people from all walks of life took part in the janaza held around 11:15am. Talking to reporters before the janaza, senior Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed recalled the contributions of Khoka to the country’s Liberation War.
He said Khoka was a nice and modest person. ‘We all have flaws in our lives, but Sadeque Hossain Khoka was an amicable person and a gentleman.’ BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed said Khoka was an acceptable politician to all. ‘He initiated the work on building a modern Dhaka. We pray to Allah for salvation of his departed soul.’
On behalf of family, Khoka’s son Ishraque Hossain said the participation of leaders and activists of all parties in the janaza had demonstrated that his father was an acceptable leader to all. “My father died with pain as he couldn’t breathe his last in the country. He returned home with travel documents. He applied for the renewal of his passport in 2017, but he didn’t get it,” he said.
Ishraque thanked the government for extending cooperation to them in bringing Khoka’s body back home. After the janaza, Jatiya Party secretary general Moshiur Rahman Ranga, on behalf of the leader of the opposition in parliament, Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Atiqul Islam, LDP president Oli Ahmed and BNP leaders Moudud Ahmed and the party’s current and ex-MPs paid homage to Khoka by placing wreaths at his coffin.
Former president AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, AL leaders Tofail Ahmed, BNP leaders Moudud Ahmed, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon, LDP president Oli Ahmed, Jatiya Party leaders Kazi Firoz Rashid, Moshiur Rahman Rang, Fakhrul Imam, Krishak Sramik Janata League president Abdul Quader Siddique, and former Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed, among others, attended the janaza.
From the parliament compound, Khoka’s body was taken to Central Shaheed Minar and it was kept from 12:00pm to 1:00pm enabling people of all walks of life to pay their last respect to the valiant freedom fighter. Earlier, his body was brought back home from United States. A flight of Emirates Airline carrying his body landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at about 8:28am.
The family members of the BNP leader, including his wife Ismat Ara, also returned home in the same flight. BNP standing committee members Mirza Abbas and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku received the body at the airport on behalf of the party. Khoka, a valiant freedom fighter, who had long been suffering from cancer, died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York on Monday, November 4, 2019.
His first Namaz-e-Janaza was held at Jamaica Muslim Centre, New York on Monday night. As per his last wish, the BNP leader is scheduled to be buried at Jurain Graveyard beside the grave of his mother in the evening. Before the burial, three more janazas — one in front of BNP central office after zuhr prayers, another at Nagar Bhaban at 3:00pm and the last one at Dhupkhola field after asr prayers — will be held.
After his janaza at Nagar Bhaban, Khoka’s body will be taken to his Gopibagh residence. Khoka, also a former minister and MP, is survived by his wife Ismat Ara, daughter Sarika Sadeque, sons Ishraque Hossain and Isfaque Hossain. He went to US in 2014 for treatment.
