ZCZC
BSS-59
HT IMAM-BURIAL
HT Imam laid to rest at Banani graveyard
DHAKA, March 4, 2021 (BSS) – Prime Minister’s Political Adviser HT Imam, who breathed his last in the early hours of today at the age of 82, was laid to his eternal rest with state honour at the Banani Graveyard in the city this afternoon.
He was buried following his second namaz-e-janaza at Azad Masjid in Gulshan after Asr prayers while a contingent of policemen offered him the guard of honour before burial.
Earlier, Imam’s body was taken to his ancestral home at Ullapara upazila in Sirajganj by a helicopter while his first namaz-e-janaza was held at Ullapara Akbar Ali Government College ground there at 12 noon.
HT Imam’s son Tanveer Imam, MP, Abdul Mamin Mandal, MP, Zilla Parishad Chairman Abdul Latif Biswas, Acting President of Sirajganj district unit of AL KM Hossain Ali, acting General Secretary Abdus Salam Talukder and Deputy Commissioner of Sirajganj Dr Faruk Ahmed joined the namaz-e-janaza, among others.
Later, Sirajganj district administration offered a guard of honour to one of the organizers of the Liberation War of Bangladesh.
Before the janaza, people from all strata, including leaders and activists of Ullapara Awami League, Jubo League, Chhatra League, Swechchhasebak League, paid their rich tributes to HT Imam by placing floral wreaths on his coffin there.
Then his body was brought back to the capital by the same copter and kept at the Central Shaheed Minar from 1.30pm to 3.30pm to allow people from all walks of life to pay their homage and have last glimpse on the cabinet secretary of the Mujibnagar Government during the country’s Liberation War in 1971.
On behalf of President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, their military secretaries paid tributes to HT Imam by placing wreaths on his coffin on the Shaheed Minar premises.
Later, sergeant at-arms on behalf of Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on behalf of Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina paid tribute to the primer’s political adviser.
AL presidium members Advocate Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman, AL joint general secretary and information minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, advisory council member of AL Mukul Bose, AL cultural affairs secretary Ashim Kumar Ukil, deputy office secretary of AL Sayem Khan, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, state minister for cultural affairs KM Khalid, state minister for public administration Farhad Hossain, vice chancellor of Dhaka University Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman, among others, paid their rich tributes to HT Imam by placing wreaths on his coffin.
Awami Jubo League, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), other AL associate and like-minded bodies, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, Jatiya Kabita Parishad (JKP), different social-cultural organizations, government officials, teachers, poets, writers and intellectuals also paid respect to the freedom fighter.
HT Imam breathed his last around 1.15am at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka where he was being treated for various age-related complications, including kidney disease.
He was serving as the political affairs advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina since 2014. Earlier, he had also served the premier’s as public administration affairs adviser since 2009. Imam was the co-chairman of AL election conducting committee and chairman of chairman of AL publicity and publication sub-committee.
Born in 1939, Imam completed his undergraduate in economics from Rajshahi University and also graduate degree in Economics from Dhaka University. Later, he completed his postgraduate degree from London School of Economics in development administration.
Hossain Toufique Imam, popularly known as HT Imam, joined the then Pakistan Civil service in 1962 and served the Mujibnagar government as the cabinet secretary during the country’s Liberation War in 1971.
BSS/MSH/SAH/MMA/2010hrs