The first namaz-e-janaza of public administration minister and former Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam has been held in Dhaka.
People from all walks of life attended the janaza, which was on the South Plaza of Parliament around 10.30am on Sunday (Jan 6).
Prior to the prayer, a guard of honour was be given to the veteran politician, who died at a Bangkok hospital at the age of 68 after undergoing treatment for lung cancer for long.
President Abdul Hamid attended the janaza while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, along with other senior female leaders of Awami League, were present in the Sangsad Bhaban premises.

Members of the parliament, as well as leaders of different political parties, social and other organisations, joined the prayers.

The mortal remains of Syed Ashra were kept at the mortuary of Dhaka’s Combined Military Hospital (CMH) after it arrived in Dhaka on Saturday (Jan 5).
The body will now be taken by a helicopter to Kishoreganj, from where he had been elected a lawmaker for five times.
His second namaz-e-janaza will be held at the district’s Sholakia Eid congregation ground at 12noon, followed by the third namaz-e-janaza at Mymensingh Anjuman Eid ground at 2pm.
Then, the body will be flown back to the capital and he will be laid to eternal rest at Banani graveyard around at 4.30pm on Sunday.
Syed Ashraf is survived by a daughter. His wife Sheila Islam died in London in 2017.
Born in Mymensingh in 1952, Syed Ashraf was the elder son of Syed Nazrul Islam, acting president of Mujibnagar Government in 1971 and one of the key figures of Bangladesh’s Liberation War.
He was actively involved in student politics. He was the general secretary of Mymensingh district unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League after the independence of Bangladesh.
He also served as the assistant publicity secretary of the central committee of Bangladesh Chhatra League.
On Nov 3 in 1975, his father Syed Nazrul Islam and three other national leaders were brutally killed in Dhaka Central Jail.
After the incident, Syed Ashraf went to London and organized Bangladesh Awami League in the UK.
He returned home in 1996 and elected parliament member. He served as the state minister for civil aviation and tourism during 1996-2001. He also elected parliament member in 2001 and served as a member of the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs.
In 2008, Syed Ashraf was again elected lawmaker and appointed as the minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives. He took over the charge as a minister for public administration on Jul 16, 2015.
In the just concluded 11th parliamentary election on Dec 30 last, he was also elected a member of parliament in his absence due to illness as he was undergoing treatment for lung cancer in Bangkok.