Background
Born in Beruwala on 8 August 1953, his father was M. A. Bakeer Markar, who was a former Parliamentary Speaker and a former Governor of the Southern Province.
Born in Beruwala on 8 August 1953, his father was M. A. Bakeer Markar, who was a former Parliamentary Speaker and a former Governor of the Southern Province.
He was the former Cabinet Minister of Media, Postal and Telecommunications from 2001 to 2004 and State Minister of Housing from 1989 to 1993. Bakeer Markar is a former Vice President of the United National Party (UNP). His ancestry can be traced to Sheik Jamaluddeen-First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Maghdoomi, an Arab settler who settled down in Beruwala.
He was educated at Holy Cross College, Kalutara, Zahira College, Gampola before completing his secondary education at Ananda College, Colombo.
He graduated from the University of Kelaniya with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication and he completed the law exams at the Sri Lanka Law College taking oaths as a Attorney-at-Law in 1981. In 1981 he became the Deputy Chairman on the Kalutara District Development Council, a position he retained until he was elected to the Sri Lankan Parliament as the Member for the Kalutara District in 1988.
He served as the Minister of State for Housing between 1989 and 1993 and as the Minister of Media, Posts and Telecommunication in the Cabinet of the 12th Sri Lankan Parliament between 2001 and 2004. Markar did not contest the 2004 parliamentary elections.
Markar married Association of Research Libraries Ummu Fareeda in 1981 and they have five children Asaf, Azam, Fadhil, Adhil and Insaf.
He was also a member of the parliament from the Kalutara District from 1989 to 2004.