The fourth death anniversary of former Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam is being observed today.

On January 3 in 2019, Syed Ashraf, also the then Public Administration Minister, died at the age of 68 while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bangkok. He had been suffering from lung cancer.

Ashraf was born in Mymensingh in 1952. His father Syed Nazrul Islam was acting President of Mujibnagar Government in 1971 and one of the key organisers of Bangladesh’s independence struggle.

Ashraf took part in the 1971 Liberation War after taking training from Dehradun in India. He was a member of Muktibahini.

Ashraf was actively involved in student politics. After the country’s independence, he became the general secretary of Mymensingh District Chhatra League and also served as Assistant Publicity Secretary of the Bangladesh Chhatra League Central Committee.

On November 3 in 1975, his father Syed Nazrul Islam along with three other national leaders was brutally killed in Dhaka Central Jail. After the incident, Syed Ashraf went to London and organised the Bangladesh Awami League in the UK.

After returning home in 1996, Ashraf was elected a Member of Parliament (MP) from Kishoreganj Sadar constituency. He served as the State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism during 1996-2001. Ashraf was also elected MP in 2001 elections and served as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The former AL general secretary was also elected MP in 2008 elections and served as the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister. He took over the charge of Public Administration Ministry on July 16, 2015.

Though Ashraf was absent during the 11th national elections, he was elected the lawmaker from Kishoreganj-1 constituency.

He left behind his only daughter while his wife Shila Islam died in October, 2017.