Sadeque Hossain Khoka

Bangladeshi politician

Sadeque Hossain Khoka (12 May 1952 – 4 November 2019) was a Bangladeshi politician.[7] He served as the 2nd mayor of Dhaka City Corporation during 2002 to 2011. He was the vice chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and was President of undivided Dhaka city BNP for longest period of the organisation's existence.[8]

Sadeque Hossain Khoka
সাদেক হোসেন খোকা
2nd Mayor of Dhaka
In office
25 April 2002 – 29 November 2011
Preceded byMohammad Hanif
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Minister of Fisheries and Livestock
In office
10 October 2001 – 22 May 2003[1]
President
Prime MinisterKhaleda Zia
Preceded byA. S. M. Abdur Rab
Succeeded byAbdus Sattar Bhuiyan
Member of Parliament
In office
20 March 1991 – 29 October 2006
Preceded byJahangir Mohammad Adel
Succeeded byMostofa Jalal Mohiuddin[2][3][4][5][6]
ConstituencyDhaka-7
Personal details
Born(1952-05-12)12 May 1952
Dhaka, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan
Died4 November 2019(2019-11-04) (aged 67)
New York City, U.S.
Political partyBangladesh Nationalist Party
Spouse(s)Ismat Ara
ChildrenIshraque Hossain
EducationPsychologist
Alma materUniversity of Dhaka
Military service
Branch/service Mukti Bahini
Battles/warsBangladesh Liberation War

Early life and career

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Khoka was born in a Muslim family. His father was an engineer and a social worker.[9] Khoka attended Dhaka University and completed M.A. in psychology. In 1971 at the age of 19 he fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War. After independence, he worked in organizing soccer, rising to the positions of General Secretary of the Dhaka Metropolitan Football Association and Joint General Secretary of the Bangladesh Football Federation. Khoka was the key person of the football club Brothers Union.

Khoka was first elected to the Jatiyo Sangshad (national legislature) in 1991. In the same year he was made State Minister of Youth and Sports. Khoka also won from his constituency in elections in 1996 and 2001. After Bangladesh Nationalist Party's victory in 2001, Khoka was made Cabinet Minister of Fisheries and Livestock. Being in the office, he fought the Dhaka City Corporation election for mayorship and won. He took office as the Mayor of Dhaka on 25 April 2002. He served as both Minister and Mayor till 2004 when he resigned from the ministry.

Khoka resigned from the mayoral duties of Dhaka on 29 November 2011, when the government passed a bill in parliament to split DCC (Dhaka City Corporation) into two parts and renamed them DCC North and DCC South.

In 2013, Khoka compared the crackdown on Hefazat protestors to the Pakistani crackdown on 25 March and Jalianwala Bagh massacres.[10] In response, Detective Branch police raided the houses of Sadeque Hossain Khoka and Bangladesh Jatiya Party chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partha.[8]

Family

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Khoka was married to Ismat Ara and had two sons and a daughter. His eldest son Ishraque Hossain is a politician and Bangladesh Nationalist Party candidate in 2018 Mayoral election in Dhaka. Another son Ishfaque Hossain is now a Bachelor level student from University of Hertfordshire. His daughter Sarika Sadeque is married to Ahmed Iftekhar, Son of Ahmad Nazir, Ex Parliament Member. Both of them pursued MBA degree from Durham University.

Khoka died from cancer on 4 November 2019 in New York.[11][12]

References

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  1. "Cabinet of Bangladesh 2001". Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  2. "List of 4th Parliament Members". Bangladesh Parliament. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  3. "List of 7th Parliament Members". Bangladesh Parliament. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  4. "List of 5th Parliament Members". Bangladesh Parliament. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  5. "Member's of 8th Parliament of Bangladesh". bdaffairs.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  6. "List of 9th Parliament Members". Bangladesh Parliament. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  7. "Khoka on Munshigonj.com". munshigonj.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Amnesty wants neutral probe into Motijheel crackdown". Weekly Holiday. No. 1. May 10, 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  9. মৃত্যুর সাথে পাঞ্জা লড়ছেন সাদেক হোসেন খোকা. FBDnews24 (in Bengali). 2019-11-02. Archived from the original on 2019-11-03. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  10. "Motijheel massacre spawns unintended consequences". Weekly Holiday. No. 1. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  11. "Sadeque Hossain Khoka passes away". The Daily Star. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  12. সাদেক হোসেন খোকা আর নেই. Jago News 24 (in Bengali). Retrieved 2019-11-04.