Fakhrul said, after the “1/11 incident”, Koko was arrested and then sent abroad after being implicated in false cases. “The only reason behind this was that he was the son of Ziaur Rehman and Khaleda Zia.”
Fakhrul said that Koko was an exceptional sports organizer who played sports himself and was associated with various sports organisations.
He said, “Arafat Rahman Koko was the main protagonist in the development of Bangladeshi cricket.”
The BNP leader said that Koko contributed to the organization of cricket, the establishment of cricket and raising its standards to the international level.
“But we saw how they had to die in pitiable conditions and leave this world without proper treatment abroad,” he said.
Fakhrul recalled that Koko’s body was brought home from Malaysia when her mother, Khaleda Zia, was imprisoned in her Gulshan office “in the midst of a fierce anti-government movement”.
“But lakhs of people took to the streets that day and attended his funeral at the Baitul Mukarram mosque… This demonstrated how the people of the country have faith and trust in the politics of Ziroor Rahman and Khaleda Zia,” he observed.