Mohammad A. Arafat

Mohammad A. Arafat (born 2 May 1973) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and academic. He is a former Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Dhaka-17 constituency in 2023–2024. On October 17, 2024, the newly reconstituted International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh, under the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus, issued an arrest warrant for Arafat in connection with alleged crimes against humanity and genocide during the 2024 Bangladesh Quota Reform Movement. The Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal requested Interpol to issue red notices for several accused, including Arafat, to assist with their arrest and possible extradition.

During his tenure, Arafat defended his government's response to the 2024 Bangladesh Quota Reform Movement, attributing the unrest to the involvement of third-party actors, including extremists group. However, a report by the OHCHR found evidence of brutal and systematic repression of the protests by his government. The Managing Director and CEO of the Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited (BSCL) alleged that Arafat directed temporary suspensions of broadcasts from four private television channels on multiple occasions during the protests through WhatsApp messages. He has been the subject of significant public outrage because of many of his statements and "Alo Ashbei" WhatsApp group during the protests.