ASHK Sadeque passes away

Awami League (AL) leader and former education minister ASHK Sadeque died of cardiac arrest at his residence at Keshabpur upazila in Jessore yesterday morning. He was 73.
He left behind his wife, a son and a daughter, and a host of relatives and admirers to mourn his death.
The veteran politician, who came to Keshabpur on Friday afternoon from Dhaka, felt pain in chest on Saturday night. He again felt pain in chest at 6:00am yesterday and died shortly afterwards.
His first namaj-e-janaza was held at Keshabpur Eidgah at about 11:30am which was attended by several thousand people. Later, his body was taken to Jessore district AL office where leaders of different parties paid last homage.
His body was brought to Dhaka and kept at his Gulshan residence. Later it was taken to Apollo Hospital. He will be buried at Banani graveyard after his son and daughter arrive from the US.
Born at Jessore on April 30 in 1934, Sadeque did his honours in Economics in 1954. He obtained his master's degree on the same subject from Williams College in the US. He also received training from Cambridge University and from the Institute of Development Economics in Karachi in Pakistan.
Sadeque joined the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1956. He obtained a fellowship from Nuffield Foundation in 1970-71 in the United Kingdom.
He served as sub-divisional officer of Nilphamari and Narayanganj and as deputy commissioner of Comilla. He also had been the secretary to the governor of the then East Pakistan.
Sadeque also served as secretary to the first prime minister of independent Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmed during the war of independence and worked as principal secretary to the president in 1972.
In his chequered career, Sadeque served in the National Institute of Public Administration as director and served in the ministries of industry, petroleum and mineral resources and defence as secretary and also in United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as administrative expert and regional industry adviser.
After retirement on March 25 in 1988, Sadeque joined AL and was appointed as member of the advisory committee of AL.
He was elected member of the parliament (MP) from Jessore-6 constituency (Keshabpur) in 1996 for the first time. He was re-elected in the eighth parliamentary election held in 2001 from the same constituency.
President Iajuddin Ahmed has expressed profound shock at the death of the former education minister.
In a condolence message, the president dwelt on ASHK Sadeque's professional life and said that as a former CSP officer he had played an important role in public administration.
"He had joined politics and as a member of parliament and a cabinet minister, had made contributions to the welfare of the country and the nation," President Iajuddin said adding that at the death of ASHK Sadeque, the nation has lost an experienced civil servant and politician.
President Iajuddin conveyed his heartfelt sympathy to the members of the bereaved family and prayed for the salvation of the departed soul.
Speaker Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar and Deputy Speaker Akhter Hamid Siddique expressed their deep shock at the death of Sadeque.
In a joint condolence message, they said that Sadeque was an experienced and dedicated politician and parliamentarian. They also prayed for the salvation of the departed soul and offered condolences to the bereaved family.
Acting AL President Zillur Rahman expressed deep shock at the death of Sadeque.
In a condolence message, he said, "We have lost an eminent leader and social worker and the nation has suffered an irreparable loss with the death of ASHK Sadeque."
He prayed for salvation of the departed soul and conveyed his deep sympathy to the bereaved family.
Meanwhile, former LGRD and Cooperatives minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan condoled his death.
In his message, he said that the nation has lost an expert politician.
He also prayed for salvation and expressed condolence to the members of the bereaved family.