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AF Hassan Ariff, the advisor to the interim government on land and civil aviation and tourism, will be laid to rest at the Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard on Monday.
The burial will take place at 10:00 am on Monday after his daughter, who lives abroad, arrives in Dhaka, according to Mahbubur Rahman Tuhin, a spokesman for the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.
“His daughter, who lives abroad, will arrive in the country at 10:30 pm on Dec 22,” he said. “A decision has been taken to bury him at the Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard at 10 am on Dec 23.”
“His body is currently being kept at the CMH [Combined Military Hospital] morgue.”
The second funeral prayer for Ariff was held on the High Court premises at 11:00 am on Saturday. Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, retired appellate judge Syed Ziaul Karim, Supreme Court Bar Association President AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, senior lawyer Zainul Abedin, and former Bar Secretary Ruhul Kuddus Kajol attended, alongside many judges and lawyers.
A third funeral prayer was held at the Secretariat afterwards, reports bdnews24.com.
The first funeral prayer for the departed advisor was held on Friday night at Dhanmondi’s Baitul Aman Mosque.
Ariff, 83, passed away from a heart attack on Friday afternoon at Dhaka’s Labaid Hospital.
Ariff served as an advisor with the rank of minister under the Muhammad Yunus-led government, which was formed following the fall of the Awami League regime.
He initially also led the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives. His duties in the post were later transferred to Advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain.
Ariff, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, passed away at the age of 83 after suffering cardiac arrest.
His family rushed him to the Labaid Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead at 3:35pm.
The former attorney general was born in Kolkata in 1941.
He completed his secondary and higher secondary education at Kolkata's St Xavier’s College. He then graduated with a bachelor’s degree and an LLB from the University of Calcutta.
In 1967, after enrolling as a lawyer at the Calcutta High Court, he moved to then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
In 1970, he became a registered lawyer at the Dhaka High Court.
Ariff held several key legal positions throughout his career.
Under military strongman HM Ershad, he served as assistant attorney general from April, 1982 to August, 1985 and as deputy attorney general from August, 1985 to March, 1996.
He later served as attorney general during the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government, from October, 2001 to April, 2005.
From January, 2008 to January, 2009, he acted as law advisor to the caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed.
He was also a panel member of the Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre.
Ariff defended Yunus in several cases. He was a senior Supreme Court lawyer and the head of the “AF Hassan Ariff and Associates” chamber.