Dhaka’s first mayor Abul Hasnat dies

PBC News:  Barrister Abul Hasnat, the first mayor of Dhaka City Corporation, passed away on Friday at his residence in London. He was 82.

Hasnat breathed his last around 5:00am (UK local time) due to old age complications, said his son Rajib Hasnat.

He left behind his wife Nasrin Begum, a son and a daughter.

Hasnat, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, went to the UK in 2019, but could not return to the country due to Covid pandemic.

He was elected as the first mayor of Dhaka City Corporation by commissioners during 1977–1982. He was again elected as mayor in 1990.

He was a founding member of the BNP standing committee.

He also served as the minister of Housing and Public Works from November 27, 1981 to May 10, 1982 in the cabinet of President Justice Abdus Sattar.

Hasnat joined Jatiya Party of Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1990. He was elected as member of parliament from Dhaka-9 constituency in a by-election as a candidate of the party on July 23, 1990 following the death of the then member of parliament M Korban Ali. Korban Ali was a senior leader of Awami League and a close associate of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

He served as the minister of Housing and Public Works in the cabinet of Hussain Muhammad Ershad from October 20, 1990 to December 17, 1990.

Hasnat returned to BNP after Ershad was overthrown in 1990 and became a member of the party’s standing committee.