Mohammad A. Arafat | |
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মোহাম্মদ এ. আরাফাত | |
![]() Official portrait, 2024 | |
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting | |
Assumed office 11 January 2024 | |
Prime Minister | Sheikh Hasina |
Preceded by | Murad Hasan |
Member of Parliament | |
Assumed office 17 July 2023 | |
Preceded by | Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque |
Constituency | Dhaka-17 |
Personal details | |
Born | Rajshahi,Bangladesh | 2 May 1973
Political party | Bangladesh Awami League |
Spouses |
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Alma mater | [1] |
Occupation |
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Mohammad A. Arafat (born 2 May 1973) [2] is a Bangladeshi academic, politician, parliamentarian and the current minister of state for information and broadcasting. [3] [4]
Arafat is a faculty member at the Canadian University of Bangladesh's School of Business. [5] His academic interests include, among others, small businesses and their relations with economic growth, capital, connectivity etc. [6] He was a former senior lecturer at the School of Business, Independent University, Bangladesh. [2]
Arafat is also the chairman of the Dhaka-based not-for-profit social-advocacy organisation, the Suchinta Foundation. [7] [8] The foundation has, among others, done extensive advocacy work in poverty eradication in Bangladesh through entrepreneurship development.
Arafat is a two-times member of the Bangladesh Parliament, having been once selected and [9] elected from the Dhaka-17 constituency as an Awami League nominee in the 11th and 12th parliaments respectively in the space of 5 months and both times without any competition from major opposition parties [10] He is also a member of the Awami League's central working committee. [11] Over the years, he has been key asset for the Awami League, in particular as regards the party's political communications and foreign relations functions.
Arafat holds advanced business degrees from Prairie View A&M University and the Oklahoma State University. [12] He is a well-recognised voice in the Bangladeshi late-night talk-show arena, popular for his sharp wit and reasoned arguments. He is also a popular face in social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. His uncompromising views and stances on Bangladesh's founding history, and advocacy for justice for crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War, endeared him to a large section of the Bangladeshi youth population.
Arafat was born on 2 May 1973 to Habibun Nisa and Mohammad Setab Uddin. [13]
The Rajshahi-born Arafat is a syndicate member and chief advisor to the board of trustees of the Canadian University of Bangladesh. [14] [15] [16] He is the founder of Suchinta Foundation. [17] He endorsed Annisul Huq for the North Dhaka Mayor election. [18]
Arafat has called for stronger ties with India and allowing transshipment of goods. [19] He wrote positively about Harsh Vardhan Shringla visit to Bangladesh and described it as "promising". [20]
Arafat called Reza Kibria, son of former Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria, a traitor for complaining about the human rights situation in Bangladesh to the United States. [21] He criticized the United States for placing sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion and described Gano Adhikar Parishad as a none threat to the Awami League government. [21]
In September 2022, the government of Bangladesh dismantled the existing trustee board of Manarat International University alleging it had links with Islamist militants and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. [22] Mayor of North Dhaka and Awami League politician, Atiqul Islam, was appointed chairman and Arafat was appointed a member of the newly created trustee board. [23]
Arafat was made a member of the Central Working Committee of the Awami League in December 2022. [24]
Arafat married Shomi Kaiser, actress and daughter of Shahidullah Kaiser and Panna Kaiser, on 24 July 2008. [25] [26] They divorced in 2015. [27] [28]
Gano Forum, literally People's Forum, is a political party in Bangladesh. GF was formed through a split of the Awami League and the merger of civil society groups in 1992. The constitutional lawyer and international jurist Dr. Kamal Hossain serves as President Emeritus.
Rangpur is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rangpur Division.
Shahidullah Kaiser was a Bangladeshi novelist and writer. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1969, Ekushey Padak in 1983 and Independence Day Award in 1998.
Manarat International University (MIU) is a private university in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 2001 by the Manarat Trust.
Mohammad Kaisar Hamid is a former Bangladeshi footballer. He became well known in the 1980s and 1990s as a central defender for Mohammedan Sporting Club in Dhaka's domestic league and in the 1988–89 Asian Club Championship. He also represented Bangladesh at the national level. In 2003, he received Bangladesh's National Sports Award.
Shah Abu Muhammad Shamsul Kibria, known as SAMS Kibria or Shams Kibria, was a Bangladeshi economist, diplomat and politician.
BAF Shaheen College Dhaka also known as BAFSD or Dhaka Shaheen is a co-educational Bangladeshi college established and controlled by the Bangladesh Air Force and primarily for the children of Air Force personnel, but students from the civilian section can also study at the college.
Shomi Kaiser is a Bangladeshi actress and political activist. She is currently the Managing Director of Dhansiri Communications Ltd, an advertising and event management company.
Haji Mohammad Salim is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Dhaka-7 constituency since 2014.
Panna Kaiser was a Bangladesh Awami League politician and a member of Jatiya Sangsad selected for the women's reserved seats during 1996–2001. She was awarded 2021 Bangla Academy Literary Award in the research on liberation war category.
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh, [transl. Jihad movement of Islam of Bangladesh] is the Bangladeshi branch of the terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). It is banned in Bangladesh and is a Proscribed Organisation in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Sadeka Halim is an academic. She is the incumbent and first female vice-chancellor of Jagannath University, appointed by the President of Bangladesh since November 2023. She was a professor at Dhaka University and the first female dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the university. She is the first female to be the Information Commissioner of Bangladesh.
Mohammad Naim Sheikh is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He made his international debut for the Bangladesh cricket team in November 2019.
Atiqul Islam is a Bangladeshi politician, businessman and the current mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation. He was elected in the position in the by-election held on 28 February 2019 and took oath on 7 March. Earlier, he served as the president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) during 2013–14.
Suchinta Foundation is a Bangladeshi non-profit think tank and research centre. Mohammad A. Arafat is the chairperson of the foundation. Arafat is a teacher of Management at the Canadian University of Bangladesh. Rubel Ahsan is the vice-chairperson of the foundation. Tarik Hasan is the treasurer of the foundation.
Sajjadul Hassan is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and the incumbent Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Netrokona-4 constituency since August 2023. Prior to this position, he served as a bureaucrat and the chairperson of Bangladesh Biman airlines. He is a former Senior Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office.
Hedayetullah Al Mamoon is a retired Senior Secretary at the Ministry of Finance of Bangladesh and the chairperson of Janata Bank.
Md. Mashiur Rahman is a Bangladeshi academic and Vice-Chancellor of National University, Bangladesh. In September 2022, the government broke the trustee board of Manarat International University and created a new board which included Rahman.
ZI Khan Panna is a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist. He is the chairman of Ain O Salish Kendra, a legal aid organisation in Bangladesh. Panna is a Trustee of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust. He is the chairman of the legal aid committee of Bangladesh Bar Council.
Zafar Ahmed is a Justice of the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.