Rafiqul Islam (born 1 January 1955) is a Bangladeshi civil servant who served as one of the

Election Commissioners of Bangladesh An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated s ...

during 2017–2022.

Early life

Rafiqul Islam was born on 1 January 1955 in

Godagari Upazila Godagari Upazila () is an Upazila of Rajshahi District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. This is the place where Mahananda river fall to Padma or Ganges. History The Deopara Prashasti, an important inscription in Sanskrit poetry describi ...

Rajshahi District Rajshahi District () is a district in mid-western Bangladesh. It is a part of Rajshahi Division. The metropolitan city of Rajshahi is in Rajshahi District. Geography Rajshahi District is bounded by Naogaon District to the north, Natore Distric ...

of then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

) to Tufani Mondol and Rahima Begum. He completed his

Secondary School Certificate Secondary School Certificate (SSC), Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or Matriculation examination, is a public examination in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal conducted by educational boards for the successful completi ...

from Godagari High School and

Higher Secondary School Certificate Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC), Higher Secondary School Certificate, Higher Secondary Education Certificate (HSEC) or Intermediate Examination is a secondary education qualification in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. It is equivalent to the f ...

from

Rajshahi College Rajshahi College (Bengali language, Bengali: রাজশাহী কলেজ) is a public college, public educational institution in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Established in 1873, it is the third oldest college in Bangladesh after Dhaka College a ...

. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Economics in a University of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and earned his master's degree in Financial Management from the United Kingdom. In 2004, he received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Degree in Management from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He also has a Diploma on Computing and Project Management.

Career

Rafiqul Islam joined the

Bangladesh Civil Service Bangladesh Civil Service (), popularly known by its acronym BCS, is the civil service of Bangladesh. Civil service in the Indian subcontinent originated from the Imperial Civil Service which was the elite higher civil service of the British Empir ...

(administration) as Assistant Secretary in 1984. He served as Secretary of the

Department of Information and Communication Technology Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and the Ministry of Science and Technology. He also served as the project director, joint secretary and additional secretary in the Election Commission Secretariat. On 31 December 2013, he retired from government service. On 15 February 2017, Rafiqul Islam was appointed as a member of the

Bangladesh Election Commission The Bangladesh Election Commission (), abbreviated and publicly referred to as EC, is a government controlled constitutional body that operates the Law, legal functions of election laws in Bangladesh. Article 118 of the Constitution of Bangla ...

by the

President of Bangladesh President of Bangladesh (POB), officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is the head of state of Bangladesh and commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The role of the president has changed three times since ...

Abdul Hamid ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd (ALA-LC romanization of ; ; ), also spelled as Abdulhamid, Abdelhamid, Abd-ul Hamid, and Abd ol-Hamid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is a Muslim theophoric name built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd' ...

. The commission consists of five members and headed by

KM Nurul Huda Khan Mohammad Nurul Huda (born 1948) is a retired secretary of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and served as the Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh from 2017 to 2022. He was a freedom fighter during the Bangladesh Li ...

Personal life

Rafiqul Islam is married to Nazmun Ara Begum, a former Professor of

Eden Mohila College Eden Mohila College (known as Eden College), is a women's college in Azimpur, Dhaka, Azimpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 1873 in the Farashganj area of Dhaka. In 1878 the school was named after Ashley Eden, Lieutenant Governor of Be ...

, in his personal life. The couple has a son and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafiqul Islam 1955 births Living people People from Rajshahi District Election Commissioners of Bangladesh