Mohammad A. Arafat

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Mohammad A. Arafat
মোহাম্মদ এ. আরাফাত
Official portrait, 2024
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting
Assumed office
11 January 2024
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byMurad Hasan
Member of the Bangladesh Parliament
for Dhaka-17
Assumed office
17 July 2023
Preceded byAkbar Hossain Pathan Farooque
Personal details
Born (1973-05-02) 2 May 1973 (age 50)
Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Political partyBangladesh Awami League
Spouses
  • Sharmin Mustary
    ​
    (m. 2016)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 2008; div. 2015)​
Parents
Alma mater
[2]
Occupation
  • Professor
  • Entrepreneur
  • Politician

Mohammad A. Arafat (born 2 May 1973)[3] is a Bangladeshi academic, social-advocate, politician and member of parliament and the current Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting.[4][5]

Arafat is a faculty member at the Canadian University of Bangladesh’s School of Business.[6] His academic interests include, among others, small businesses and their relations with economic growth, capital, connectivity etc.[7]

Arafat is also the Chairman of the Dhaka-based not-for-profit social-advocacy organisation, the Suchinta Foundation.[8][9] The foundation has, among others, done extensive advocacy work in poverty eradication in Bangladesh through entrepreneurship development.

Arafat is a two-times Member of Bangladesh Parliament, having been once selected and [10] elected from the Dhaka-17 constituency as an Awami League nominee in the 11th and 12th parliaments respectively in the space of 5 months and both times without any competition from major opposition parties[11] He is also a member of the Awami League's central working committee.[12] Over the years, he has been key asset for the Awami League, in particular as regards the party's political communications and foreign relations functions.

Arafat holds advanced business degrees from Prairie View A&M University and the Oklahoma State University.[13] He is a well-recognised voice in the Bangladeshi late-night talk-show arena, popular for his sharp wit and reasoned arguments. He is also a popular face in social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. His uncompromising views and stances on Bangladesh's founding history, and advocacy for justice for crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War, endeared him to a large section of the Bangladeshi youth population.

Career

The Rajshahi-born Arafat is a syndicate member and Chief Advisor to the board of trustees of the Canadian University of Bangladesh.[14][15][16] He is the founder of Suchinta Foundation.[17] He endorsed Annisul Huq for the North Dhaka Mayor election.[18]

Arafat has called for stronger ties with India and allowing transshipment of goods.[19] He wrote positively about Harsh Vardhan Shringla visit to Bangladesh and described it as "promising".[20]

Arafat called Reza Kibria, son of former Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria, a traitor for complaining about the human rights situation in Bangladesh to the United States.[21] He criticized the United States for placing sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion and described Gano Adhikar Parishad as a none threat to the Awami League government.[21]

In September 2022, the Government of Bangladesh dismantled the existing trustee board of Manarat International University alleging it had links with Islamist militants and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.[22] Mayor of North Dhaka and Awami League politician, Atiqul Islam, was appointed chairman and Arafat was appointed a member of the newly created Trustee board.[23]

Arafat was made a member of the Central Working Committee of the Awami League in December 2022.[24]

Personal life

Arafat married Shomi Kaiser, actress and daughter of Shahidullah Kaiser and Panna Kaiser, on 24 July 2008.[25][26] They divorced in 2015.[27][28]

References

  1. ^ "Honorable State Minister". moi.gov.bd. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Profile - Mohammad A. Arafat". tritiyomatra.com. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  3. ^ "M Arafat: From a teacher to state minister". Dhaka Tribune. 2024-01-11. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  4. ^ "Mohammad Ali Arafat".
  5. ^ "Awami League candidate Arafat wins Dhaka-17 by-polls".
  6. ^ "Mohammad A Arafat".
  7. ^ "Mohammad A. Arafat made state minister for information & broadcasting".
  8. ^ "Bangladesh-India ties are not a zero-sum game".
  9. ^ "'We see no challenges as the stars are aligned in favour of the Awami League'".
  10. ^ "Arafat elected from Dhaka-17 within 5 months without any visible competition".
  11. ^ "Arafat wins Dhaka-17 by-election".
  12. ^ "Arafat, Tarana new faces in Awami League central committee".
  13. ^ "Mohammad A. Arafat".
  14. ^ "Chairperson". Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Introducing Canadian University of Bangladesh". Canadian University of Bangladesh. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  16. ^ Masum, Obaidur. "Canadian University gets Rajuk's Purbachal plot 'in breach of rules'". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  17. ^ miqbal (12 September 2022). "The international community must see the Bangladesh of 2022". Atlantic Council. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  18. ^ "The better candidate". Dhaka Tribune. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  19. ^ Sharma, Sumit (17 August 2020). "India bids to head off China in Bangladesh". Asia Times. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  20. ^ "OP-ED: With a little help from our friends". Dhaka Tribune. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Complainant to foreigners, is a traitor Reza Kibria is inexperienced in politics". Barta24. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  22. ^ Rahaman, Arafat (9 September 2022). "Manarat University: Govt reconstitutes trustee board over 'militancy links'". The Daily Star. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  23. ^ Rahaman, Arafat (8 September 2022). "Atiqul Islam made chairman of Manarat Int'l University Board of Trustees". The Daily Star. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  24. ^ "AL announces full-fledged central committee". Risingbd.com. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  25. ^ জন্মদিন : শমী কায়সার :: দৈনিক ইত্তেফাক [Birthday: Shami Kaiser]. The Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). 10 January 2013. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Shomi and Panna Kaiser on "Eki Brintey" tonight". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 19 November 2009.
  27. ^ Arts & Entertainment Desk (10 October 2020). "A new chapter begins for Shomi Kaiser". The Daily Star. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  28. ^ "Shomi Kaiser ties the knot with Reza Ameen". New Age | The Most Popular Outspoken English Daily in Bangladesh. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
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