Sadeque Hossain Khoka (12 May 1952 – 4 November 2019) was a Bangladeshi politician. He served as the 2nd mayor of

Dhaka City Corporation Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) was the former self-governing corporation that was entrusted with the task of administering the municipal affairs of Dhaka. The incorporated area was divided into several wards. Each ward has an elected ward commiss ...

during 2002 to 2011. He was the vice chairman of the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

and was President of undivided

Dhaka city Dhaka ( or ; , ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world with a density of about 34,000 citizens per square kilometers within a tot ...

BNP for longest period of the organisation's existence.

Early life and career

Khoka attended

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka was founded in 1921 ...

and completed M.A. in psychology. In 1971 at the age of 19 he fought in the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

. 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 Bangladesh Football Federation (, ''Bānglādesh fūṭbôl fēḍārēshôn'') is the governing body that administers the sport of association football in Bangladesh. It is in charge of running the country's men's and women's national teams, ...

. Khoka was the key person of the football club

Brothers Union Brothers Union () is a professional association football, football club based in Gopibagh, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It currently competes in the Bangladesh Premier League (football), Bangladesh Premier League, the top flight of Football in Bangladesh, ...

. Khoka was first elected to the

Jatiyo Sangshad The Jatiya Sangsad (), often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as is the unicameral legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for women. Electe ...

(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

's victory in 2001, Khoka was made Cabinet Minister of Fisheries and Livestock. Being in the office, he fought the

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. In response, Detective Branch police raided the houses of Sadeque Hossain Khoka and

Bangladesh Jatiya Party The Bangladesh Jatiya Party (), simply known as BJP, is a centre-right conservative political party in Bangladesh. It is a splinter group of the original Jatiya Party, founded by the former President Hossain Mohammad Ershad. It was previousl ...

chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partha.

Family

Khoka was married to Ismat Ara and had two sons and a daughter. His eldest son Ishraque Hossain is a politician and

candidate in 2018 Mayoral election in Dhaka. Another son Ishfaque Hossain is now a Bachelor level student from

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...

. His daughter Sarika Sadeque is married to Ahmed Iftekhar, Son of

Ahmad Nazir Ahmad Nazir is a politician from Noakhali District of Bangladesh. He was elected a member of parliament from Noakhali-7 in 1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''In ...

, Ex Parliament Member. Both of them pursued MBA degree from

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

Death

Khoka died from cancer on 4 November 2019 in New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khoka, Sadeque Hossain 1952 births 2019 deaths University of Dhaka alumni Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians Mayors of Dhaka State ministers of youth and sports of Bangladesh Ministers of fisheries and livestock of Bangladesh Recipients of the Bangladesh National Sports Award 20th-century Bangladeshi sportsmen 5th Jatiya Sangsad members 6th Jatiya Sangsad members 7th Jatiya Sangsad members 8th Jatiya Sangsad members Mukti Bahini personnel Bangladeshi football administrators Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Bangladeshi sportsperson-politicians