Sports Reporter:
The 17th death anniversary of Mohammad Hanif, the first elected mayor of the undivided Dhaka City Corporation and former president of Dhaka City Awami League, will be observed today.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages paying deep respect in memory of Mohammad Hanif.
To mark the anniversary, the ruling Awami League (AL) and its associate bodies will pay tributes to Mohammad Hanif by placing wreaths at his grave at Azimpur graveyard here at 10:30am. A doa mahfil will be arranged at Mayor Mohammad Hanif Jame Masjid.
The ruling party leaders including Mohammad Hanif’s son and the first elected mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mohammad Sayeed Khokon, who is also a member of the AL central working committee and got party ticket to contest the 12th parliamentary polls from Dhaka-6 constituency, will take part in the program.
Mohammad Hanif was born on April 1, 1944 in the old part of the capital.
He started his political career as an active member of the Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, from his student life.
He played a significant role in the 1969 mass-upsurge and also 1971 War of Liberation. Hanif was elect-ed president of Dhaka city unit of Awami League in 1976 and held the position until his death.
He received critical injuries as he had tried to save the then Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina during a gruesome grenade attack in an anti-terrorism rally of the party at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21 in 2004.
He died on November 28, 2006 while undergoing treatment at the hospital. Hanif left behind a son and two daughters.
