Bangladesh's former foreign secretary accorded state guard of honour after funeral prayers

Bangladesh's former foreign secretary and a good friend of India Syed Muazzem Ali was on Wednesday given a state guard of honour after his funeral prayers were held here.

Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen, former finance minister A M A Muhith, former foreign minister A H Mahmood Ali, Indian high commissioner in Dhaka Riva Ganguly Das, former diplomats and senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present at State Guesthouse Padma to pay their last tributes.

Representatives for President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed floral wreaths on the coffin of Ali, who was also a freedom fighter, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The guard of honour was given to Ali after funeral prayers, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, adding that former foreign secretary will be buried at Banani graveyard.

Muazzem, 75, passed away on Monday at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) here while undergoing treatment days after he arrived in Dhaka from New Delhi ending his five-year stint in India.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had expressed grief over Ali's demise, saying he was a "good friend" of India.

"Deeply shocked to learn of the passing away of former High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali. He was a good friend and a strong partner for so many of us. Our thoughts are with Tuhfa and family," Jaishankar said in a tweet on Monday.

Born in 1944, Ali joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1968, and retired in December 2001. While serving in the Pakistan embassy in Washington in 1971, he declared his allegiance to Bangladesh.

As a founding member of the Bangladesh mission in Washington DC, he was active in the lobbying process for political support for Bangladesh's independence movement.

Ali also served in Bangladesh embassies in Warsaw (1975-1978), and New Delhi (1986-1988), and in the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (1982-1986).

He is survived by wife and two sons. His wife Tuhfa Zaman obtained her MA from Dhaka University and MPhil from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.