Politician-businessman Reza Ali passes away
Veteran politician and businessman Reza Ali passed away at a hospital in Singapore yesterday. He was 83.
He breathed his last at 11:45am (local time) at Mount Elizabeth Hospitals, his son Miran Ali told The Daily Star.
His family said he had been unwell for some time.
Reza Ali left behind his wife, Prof (retd) Nayeema Ali, and children Miran, Sarah, and Mishal as well as a host of relatives and well-wishers to mourn his death.
His first namaz-e-janaza will be held at Masjid Al-Falah on Bideford Road in Singapore today after zohr prayers, according to a press release from Bitopi, the business organisation Reza started in 1968.
The second janaza will be held at Gulshan Central Mosque after zohr prayers on tomorrow, after the body reaches Dhaka. His third janaza will be held at the central mosque in Dhaka's Bashundhara Residential Area after Asr prayers on the same day.
After zohr prayers on Thursday, his fourth janaza will be held at Nazrul Academy in Mymensingh's Trishal upazila. Later, he will be buried at his family graveyard after Asr prayers following the fifth janaza to be held at Dhanikhola.
According to the biography published by the parliament secretariat in November 2012, Ali was born in 1940 in Sylhet.
His father was Tofazzol Ali and mother Sarah Ali.
Ali was educated at St Gregory's High School, Dhaka; Aitchison College, Lahore; and Dhaka University.
He got an MA degree in political science and LLB degree from Dhaka University.
As a student, Ali studied political science at DU. He was arrested during the student movement of 1962 and remained behind bars for quite a few years.
He became the assistant general secretary of the then East Pakistan Student Union central committee, formed through provincial conference in 1963. From the beginning of the sixties, he had become involved with the student and mass movement throughout the country.
Towards 1968, Ali decided to establish Bitopi. He took an initiative of establishing the organisation as an advertising company in 1969. He also engaged in the garment industry in the '80s.
In the '70s, Ali was involved in politics in some way or another.
During the Liberation War, at grave personal risk, he smuggled to safety intellectuals, artists, and their families who were targeted by the West Pakistani forces and their collaborators.
He joined Awami League politics later. His ancestral home is in Cumilla's Kasba. His father had become a parliament member first and later a minister from there.
He was at the forefront of the ship-breaking industry and was the founder-president of the Shipbreakers Association of Bangladesh.
Ali built a large fishery in Dhanikhola of Mymensingh's Trishal. He became involved in various social and political activities there. As the AL candidate, he became an MP from Mymensingh-7 constituency in the 2008 elections.
Comments