DHAKA, April 1, 2023 (BSS) - On the occasion of the 79th birth anniversary of veteran freedom fighter, first elected mayor of undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and former president of Dhaka City Awami League Mohammad Hanif, people from all strata paid glowing tributes to him today.

To mark the day, different social and cultural organisations paid tributes to Hanif by placing wreaths at his grave at Azimpur here, a press release said.

Various political and social organizations including Mayor Mohammad Hanif Memorial Foundation and Mayor Hanif Smrity Sangsad held different programmes such as arranging doa-mahfils, the release added. 

Awami League leaders and activists led by Awami League central committee member, Mayor Hanif's son and former Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokan, paid respect to the grave of Mayor Hanif and later took part in a munajat seeking divine blessings for the departed soul.

Mohammad Hanif, a close associate of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was born to a respected Muslim family in Old Dhaka on April 1, 1944. 

He played an active role in all democratic movements, including 69's Mass Upsurge and 1971 Liberation War. 

The anti-liberation forces under the direct patronage of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government launched a grenade attack on August 21, 2004 to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

On that day, the leaders of Awami League, including Mohammad Hanif, made a human shield and saved Sheikh Hasina. 

As a result, many sprinters of grenades pierced various parts of the body of Hanif, including his brain.

Later, he died on November 28 in 2006 at the age of 62 due to the injuries.