Arafat Rahman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arafat Rahman
আরাফাত রহমান
Arafat Rahman Coco.jpg
Born(1969-08-12)12 August 1969
Noakhali, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan
Died24 January 2015(2015-01-24) (aged 45)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Resting placeBanani Graveyard, Dhaka
NationalityBangladeshi
Other namesKoko
Political partyBangladesh Nationalist Party
Spouse(s)Sharmila Rahman
Children2
Parents
RelativesTarique Rahman (brother)
Taiyaba Majumder (maternal grandmother)
Sayeed Iskander (maternal uncle)
Khurshid Jahan (maternal aunt)
Shahrin Islam Tuhin (cousin)
Saiful Islam Duke (cousin)

Arafat Rahman, nicknamed "Koko"[1] alternative spelling "Coco" (12 August 1970 – 24 January 2015) was a Bangladeshi cricket organizer and former Chairman of the Development Committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board.[2] He is also the younger son of former President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman[3] and former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia.[4]

Arafat Rahman is widely remembered for his contribution to Bangladesh's cricket as the Chairman of the Development Committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board from 2002 to 2005. He played a significant role in designing a development programme for Bangladesh Cricket Board, initiating the High-Performance squad that worked as the grooming ground of young cricketers and ensured pipeline for the national cricket team for the next decade.[5]

Arafat died in Malaysia on January 24, 2015, due to cardiac arrest.[1] He was exiled by the caretaker regime of 2007-08 after his conviction in a money laundering case, which his lawyers claimed fabricated as the money was transferred when he was in jail in November 2007 by a Singaporean businessman, who visibly had no connection with Arafat Rahman.[6]

Personal life[]

Arafat Rahman was born in 1970 to Ziaur Rahman and Begum Khaleda Zia. His elder brother is Tarique Rahman, who is now the Senior Vice-Chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party and a member of Centrist Democrat International.[7]

Rahman was married to Sharmila Rahman Sithi. He was the father of two children – Zahia and Zaifa, with Sharmila Rahman.[8]

Sports organizer[]

Arafat Rahman was enthusiastic about sports, especially cricket which is the most popular sport in Bangladesh. During his studies in Australia, he built a network with local Australian cricket coaching staffs in the early 1990s which he utilized to shape Bangladesh's cricket as the Chairman of the Development Committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board, from 2002 to 2005.[9]

Rahman was one of the pioneers of developing a High-Performance unit at BCB to develop emerging cricketers under an academy setting.[10][11] This initiative helped develop Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Shahriar Nafees, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and many others who later became integral part of Bangladesh cricket team.[12] He brought in Richard McInnes to lead the initiative.[13] This initiative was eventually converted into the National Cricket Academy.

He is particularly credited for renovating Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, which was originally built like a football and athletics stadium, and converting the stadium into the home of Bangladesh cricket. Despite the criticism and unverified allegations of corruption, Arafat Rahman led the renovation process of the stadium[14] and eventually made one of the best stadiums in South Asia, with the best drainage facility in the subcontinent. From 2004 to 2006, before being recognized as an international stadium, about three feet of soil was excavated to remove all the red clay and water pipes were fit in to develop a drainage facility and afterwards, it was filled up with rock chips and sand and then grass. The gallery was replaced by new chairs and shades as well.[15]

In his short stint with BCB, Arafat Rahman contributed in the development of six international cricket venues across the country,[16] in Dhaka, Chattagram,[17] Narayanganj, Sylhet, Khulna and Bogra, all of whom received international status from 2006 to 2007.[18]

Besides, Arafat Rahman invited the country's prominent businessmen Khondokar Jamil Uddin, Aziz Al Kaiser, Reaz Uddin Al-Mamoon, and others to invest in cricket clubs and pumped in corporate financial support for the emerging cricketers. Remembering his conversation with Arafat Rahman, prominent businessman Khondokar Jamil Uddin said,

I was a simple businessman. It is Arafat Rahman Koko who brought me into the Cricket arena. He said, ‘Jamil vai, being a businessman you have a responsibility to contribute to the nation.[19]

Rahman was also the chairman of Old DOHS Sports Club and helped in the development of a new sports club, City Club.

Exile and death[]

Arafat Rahman's grave at Banani Graveyard in Dhaka 27 (cropped).jpg

After the military-backed takeover of power by a technocrat government led by Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, Arafat Rahman's business office and house were raided by joint forces multiple times. In April 2007 he was picked up from his home to pressurize her mother and the former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia to leave Bangladesh as a part of the "Minus Two Formula".[20] He was later released and was dropped at home after his mother was said to have agreed to leave the country with her sons.[21]

However, when she changed the decision and declared to stay in Bangladesh and face the consequences in June 2007, cases started being filed against Arafat and his mother. By August, all of their bank accounts were frozen and by early September, Arafat and his mother Begum Khaleda Zia were sued and arrested.[22]

On 17 July 2008, after taking permission from Bangladesh Supreme Court, Rahman went to Thailand and then to Malaysia for medical treatment.[23] Later, he was jailed for six years in a case of money laundering and a Dhaka court issued a warrant for arrest against him in November 2010.[24] After that, he shifted to Malaysia from Thailand and never returned to Bangladesh.

He died of a cardiac arrest on 24 January 2015, at University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[25]

He was buried at Banani graveyard in Bangladesh on 27 January 2015 after a grand funeral which was attended by hundreds and thousands of mourners in Dhaka.[26]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Khaleda Zia's self-exiled son dies in Malaysia". Business Standard. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  2. ^ "ICL and our cricket". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ Selections from Regional Press. South Asia: Institute of Regional Studies. 2008.
  4. ^ Ali, S. Mahmud (2010-09-30). Understanding Bangladesh. Columbia University Press. pp. 255–. ISBN 9780231701433. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  5. ^ "High performance BCB". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Koko not involved in money laundering". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Membership Approval". IDC-CDI. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Khaleda spends time with granddaughters on Eid". The Daily Star. 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  9. ^ "Arafat Rahman Koko: At a Glance". Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  10. ^ "High performance BCB". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Development running dry?". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  12. ^ "McInnes to quit as head of Bangladesh academy". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  13. ^ "ICL and our cricket". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Koko & commission". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Shere Bangla National Stadium". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Arafat Rahman Koko: At a Glance". Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  19. ^ "Arafat Rahman Koko: At a Glance". Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Arafat 'picked up' in late-night raid". The Daily Star. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Ex-Bangladesh PM agrees to exile". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  22. ^ "Khaleda, Koko sued". The Daily Star. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  23. ^ "Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia's son dies". The Hindu. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  24. ^ "Khaleda Zia's son Arafat Rahman Coco dies". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  25. ^ Mohammad Al-Masum Molla (24 January 2015). "Khaleda's younger son Koko dies". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  26. ^ "A large crowd of thousands gather to offer funeral prayers for Arafat Rahman Koko". ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Live News. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
Retrieved from ""