Sadeque Hossain Khoka Life History

Sadeque Hossain Khoka (born May 12, 1952) is a Bangladeshi politician. He served as the 2nd mayor of Dhaka City Corporation during 2002 to 2011. He was the vice chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Early life and career

Khoka was born in a Muslim family. His father was an engineer and a social worker. Khoka attended Dhaka University and completed M.A. in Psychology. In 1971 at the age of 19 he fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War. After independence, he worked in organizing soccer, ultimately rising to the positions of General Secretary of the Dhaka Metropolitan Football Association and Joint General Secretary of the Bangladesh Football Federation. Khoka is the key person of the football club Brothers Union.

Khoka was first elected to the Jatiyo Sangshad (national legislature) in 1991. In the same year he was made State Minister of Youth and Sports. Khoka also has won from his constituency in elections in 1996 and 2001. After Bangladesh Nationalist Party's victory in 2001, Khoka was made Cabinet Minister of Fisheries and Livestock. Being in the office, he fought the Dhaka City Corporation election for mayorship and won. He took office as the Mayor of Dhaka on April 25, 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 November 29, 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.

Family

Khoka is married to Ismat Ara and has two sons and a daughter. His son Ishfaque Hossain is now a Bachelor level student from University of Hertfordshire. His daughter Sarika Sadeque is married to Ahmed Iftekhar, Son of Ahmad Nazir, Ex Parliament Member. Both of them pursued MBA degree from University of Durham.

Self-History Of Brojen Das

Brojen Das (9 December 1927 – 1 June 1998) was a Bengali swimmer, who was the first Asian to swim across the English Channel, and the first person to cross it four times.

Early life and education

Brojen was born in the Kuchiamora village of Bikrampur, Bangladesh. His father was Harendra Kumar Das. He completed the matriculation exam in 1946 from KL Jubilee High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Vidyasagar College in Calcutta.

Swimming

Brojen meeting Queen Elizabeth after his channel crossing (1961)

Since boyhood Brojen practiced swimming in Buriganga River. After his own initiative, the East Pakistan Sports Federation introduced an annual swimming competition in Dhaka in 1953. He was invited to take part in the English Channel Swimming Competition in 1958. As a part of his training he swam in Shitalakshya River, in lower Meghna River and a distance of 46 miles starting from Narayanganj to Chandpur. Prior to the competition, he also swam in the Mediterranean Sea from Capri to Naples.

At midnight on 18 August 1958, Brojen began swimming to cross the English Channel along with other competitors from 23 countries. He completed the course on the next day after noon.

Brojen crossed the English Channel a total of 6 times from 1958 to 1961.

Achievements

Local

• Champion in 100 meter freestyle swimming competition in West Bengal in 1952.
• Champion in East Pakistan in 100, 200, 400 & 1500 meter freestyle swimming in 1953-1956.
• Champion in Pakistan in 100 & 400 meter freestyle swimming in 1955.
• Member of the Pakistan swimming team in 1956 Summer Olympic Games.

International

• Italy, July 1958, winner (placed 3rd) in the Capri Island to Naples 33-kilometer-long distance swimming competition.
• England, August 1958, secured first position among the male competitors in the Billy Butlin’s Channel Crossing Swimming Competition; 39 competitors from 23 nations participated in the competition.
• England, August 1959, successfully completed the Channel Crossing Swimming Competition from France to England.
• England, September 1959, successfully completed the Channel Swim from England to France.
• England, August 1960, successfully completed the Channel Swim from France to England.
• England, September 1961, crossed the Channel once again from France to England.
• England, September 1961, obtained the world record for the fastest swim across the English Channel from France to England.

Awards

Brojen Das receiving the Letona Trophy, 1986

• 1956: Awarded by Dhaka University
• 1960: Pride of Performance award by the Pakistan government.
• 1965: Induction into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
• 1986: Letona Trophy, i.e. King of the Channel from the Channel Swimming Association of the United Kingdom
• 1976: National Sports Award, Bangladesh
• Atish Dipankar Medal
• Gold Medal by Kazi Mahabubullah Trust and Jahanara Jana Kalyan Trust
• 1999: Independence Day Award, Bangladesh (posthumous)

Death

Brojen was detected to have cancer in June 1997. He died on 1 June 1998 in a clinic in Kolkata. His funeral was held at Postagola cremation site in Dhaka on 3 June 1998.

Remarkable Personalities from Munshiganj District

Revolutionary Nationalists

• M. Hamidullah Khan, Bangladesh Forces, Sector Commander, Sector 11, Bangladesh War of Independence 1971
• Jagadish Chandra Bose, Great Bengali physicist
• Badal Gupta, revolutionary against British India
• Benoy Basu, revolutionary against British India
• Dinesh Gupta, revolutionary against British India

Social & Scientific

• Chashi Nazrul Islam - artist
• Humayun Azad, linguistic scientist, poet and novelist 
• Durga Mohan Das, Brahmo reformer
• Dwarkanath Ganguly, Brahmo reformer

Art, Culture & Sports

• Brojen Das, the first Bangladeshi and Asian to swim across the English Channel, and the first person to cross it four times
• Emdadul Huq Milon, writer and media personality
• Buddhadeb Bosu‚ writer, poet, playwright, essayist

Public Affairs

• A. N. Hamidullah, First Governor, Bangladesh Bank 
• Abu Sayeed Hafizullah, first Bengali Accountant General of East Pakistan 
• Fakhruddin Ahmed, former chief adviser, Non-Party Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, 2007–2008.
• Iajuddin Ahmed, former President of Bangladesh
• A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury, former shortest term appointed President of Bangladesh
• Sadeque Hossain Khoka‚ former Mayor of Dhaka
• M. A. Naser, pioneer in Engineering Education, former Vice Chancellor or BUET, Ekushey Padak recipient

History And Famous Person Of Munshiganj District

Bikrampur (Munshiganj) was the political and cultural centre of ancient Bengal. It was officially known as Bikrampur until 1986 and was part of Dhaka District. The remains of the city of Bikrampur, the capital of the ancient kingdoms of southeastern Bengal, are lost and its location can only be guessed on the basis of available data. The area comprising the districts of Munshiganj stretching on the west of the Meghna and Dhaleshwari had been included in the kingdom of vikramapura in the ancient period. During the Sena rule Vikramapura in East Bengal had been the second capital of the Senas in addition to their capital at Nadia. After the fall of Nadia in the hands of bakhtiyar khalji (1204) the Sena King lakshmanasena fled to Vikramapura and began to rule East Bengal. After the death of Lakshmanasena (1206) his descendants Visvarupasena and Kesavasena ruled in Vikramapura till at least 1223 AD. Some historians postulate that the sons of Lakshamanasena ruled in Vikramapura up to 1243-45 AD. Raja Dasarathadeva Danujmadhava (Danuj Rai), the Deva king of Chandradvipa, ousted the Senas from Vikramapura in the third quarter of the thirteenth century and ruled the south-eastern Bengal till the end of the thirteenth century.

Administration

The district consists of 6 upazilas:

Lohajang Upazila, Sreenagar Upazila, Munshiganj Sadar, Sirajdikhan Upazila, Tongibari Upazila, Gazaria Upazila

Notable people

Revolutionary Nationalists

• M. Hamidullah Khan, Bangladesh Forces, Sector Commander, Sector 11, Bangladesh War of Independence 1971
• Jagadish Chandra Bose, Great Bengali physicist
• Badal Gupta, revolutionary against British India
• Benoy Basu, revolutionary against British India
• Dinesh Gupta, revolutionary against British India

Social & Scientific

• Chashi Nazrul Islam - artist
• Humayun Azad, linguistic scientist, poet and novelist 
• Durga Mohan Das, Brahmo reformer
• Dwarkanath Ganguly, Brahmo reformer

Art, Culture & Sports

• Brojen Das, the first Bangladeshi and Asian to swim across the English Channel, and the first person to cross it four times
• Emdadul Huq Milon, writer and media personality
• Buddhadeb Bosu‚ writer, poet, playwright, essayist

Public Affairs

• A. N. Hamidullah, First Governor, Bangladesh Bank 
• Abu Sayeed Hafizullah, first Bengali Accountant General of East Pakistan 
• Fakhruddin Ahmed, former chief adviser, Non-Party Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, 2007–2008.
• Iajuddin Ahmed, former President of Bangladesh
• A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury, former shortest term appointed President of Bangladesh
• Sadeque Hossain Khoka‚ former Mayor of Dhaka
• M. A. Naser, pioneer in Engineering Education, former Vice Chancellor or BUET, Ekushey Padak recipient