Shamim Osman (; born 28 February 1961) is a politician from

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

who belongs to

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

. He is a former

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad (), often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as is the unicameral Legislature, legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for w ...

member representing the Narayanganj-4 constituency. His residency was vandalized by protesters at February 6, 2025.

Early life and family

Osman was born on 28 February 1961 to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

political family in

Narayanganj Narayanganj () is a city in central Bangladesh in the Greater Dhaka area. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of Dhaka. With a population of almost 1 million, it is the 6th largest city in Bangladesh. It is als ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. His family belongs to a

Pradhan Pradhan (Devanagari: प्रधान) is generally ministerial title of Sanskrit origin used in the Indian subcontinent. The Sanskrit ''pradhāna'' translates to "major" or "prime"; however, the more modern Hindi definitions provided by the Oxf ...

clan from Jamalkandi in present-day

Comilla Comilla (), officially spelled Cumilla, is a metropolis on the banks of the Gomti River in eastern Bangladesh. Comilla was one of the cities of ancient Bengal. It was once the capital of Tripura kingdom. Comilla Airport is located in the Duli ...

. His father, Abul Khayer Mohammad Shamsuzzoha, along with his elder brothers,

Nasim Osman Nasim Osman (31 July 1953 – 30 April 2014) was a Jatiya Party (Ershad) politician and the Member of Parliament from Narayanganj. Career Osman was elected to the parliament of Jatiya Sangsad four times, in 1986, 1988, 2008, and 2014. Personal ...

and

Salim Osman Salim Osman (born 26 Oct 1958) is a Bangladesh Jatiya Party politician and a former member of Jatiya Sangsad representing Narayanganj-5, the constituency of his deceased elder brother. Career In 2014, Osman was elected president of Bangladesh ...

of the Jatiya Party, all served as MPs in Narayanganj. His grandfather, Mohammad Osman Ali, was a founding member of the

. Osman is a graduate of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

Career

Osman was elected as a member of parliament at the 7th National Parliamentary Elections in June 1996 from Narayanganj-4. Osman received 73,349 votes while his nearest rival,

Sirajul Islam Sirajul Islam is Bangladeshi historian, writer, columnist, professor and academician. He is the chairman of the Board of Editors of Banglapedia, the national encyclopedia of Bangladesh and the editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Ban ...

of the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

, received 63,866 votes. He contested the

2001 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 1 October 2001. The 300 seats of the Jatiya Sangsad were contested by 1,935 candidates representing 54 parties and 484 independents. The elections were the second to be held under the caretaker govern ...

as a candidate of

from Narayanganj-4 and lost. He received 106,104 votes, while the winner,

Muhammad Gias Uddin Muhammad Gias Uddin is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make ...

received 137,323. After losing the position in 2001, he went on self-exile in India and Canada. Bangladesh Police searched Osman's home in Narayanganj on 24 November 2003 when he was in Canada. In November 2004, Osman's political rival, Mominullah Liton, also known as David, was killed in a crossfire by the

Rapid Action Battalion Rapid Action Battalion (; abbreviated as RAB) is an anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police. This elite force consists of members of the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Bangladesh Police, Border Guard ...

. On 1 May 2007, Osman was sentenced to jail for three years in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission. On 14 August, a court ordered his property to be seized for tax evasion. In September 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission sued Osman and his wife for illegal wealth and submitted the charge sheet in April 2008. On 12 September, he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in a tax evasion case. On 12 January 2009, Justices

A. B. M. Khairul Haque A. B. M. Khairul Haque (born 18 May 1944) is a Bangladeshi jurist, who served as the 19th Chief Justice of Bangladesh and the current chief of Bangladesh Law Commission. Acclaimed for delivering verdicts in the Bengali language, he played a pivo ...

and

Md Abdul Hye Md Abdul Hye (died 20 February 2021) was a Bangladeshi judge who was the chairman of the Labour Appeal Tribunal and a retired Justice of the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. Career In December 2008, Abdul Hye and Justice ABM ...

of the

Bangladesh High Court The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh (), popularly known as High Court, is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Appellate Division. It consists of the Chief Justice of Bangla ...

rejected Osman's petition seeking bail in three cases filed by the ⁣⁣Anti-Corruption Commission and the

National Board of Revenue The National Board of Revenue (NBR; ) is the central authority for tax administration in Bangladesh. It is a statutory authority attached with the Internal Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance. The NBR collects almost 97% of tax revenue ...

. After around eight years, Osman came back to Narayanganj in April 2009 when

Bangladesh Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

party returned to power. On 11 February, he received bail in two cases in which he was sentenced to three and eight years imprisonment. In 2011, he lost the Narayanganj City Mayoral election to

Selina Hayat Ivy Salina Hayat Ivy (born June 5) is a Bangladeshi politician, physician, and the first mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation. She was given the status of State Minister on August 8, 2022, along with the Mayor of Chattragram. She won her third term ...

. He had received 78,000 votes in the city election. On 7 April 2011, High Court squashed the Anti-Corruption Commission case in which he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Osman was accused by

Samrat Hossain Emily Samrat Hossain Emily was a Bangladeshi footballer of the 1980s. After starting his career as a striker, he moved to the role of an attacking midfielder in the 2nd half of the decade. He is among the few footballers who played with equal success fo ...

, a former national football player, of assaulting him in October 2013. On 8 March 2013, a 17-year-old student Tanvir Mohammad Toki, as found dead in Narayanganj two days after he had gone missing. The victim's father, Rafiur Rabbi, accused Osman's family of the killing of his son. On 25 March, High Court denied anticipatory bail to Osman and his son Ayon Osman. Osman filed a defamation lawsuit against

Ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...

. For the

2014 Bangladesh general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 5 January 2014, in accordance with the constitutional requirement that elections must take place within the 90-day period before the expiration of the term of the Jatiya Sangshad on 24 January 2014. ...

, the party picked Osman to contest for Narayanganj-4 constituency, dropping the incumbent Kabori Sarwar. He was elected unopposed after the main Bangladesh Nationalist Party boycotted the election. By 2014, Awami League in Narayanganj had divided into two factions, one loyal to Osman and the other to

. He had threatened ASP Mohammad Bashiruddin for not allowing Awami League activists to stuff ballots. Osman was re-elected to parliament from Narayanganj in the

2018 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect 300 directly-elected members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was another landslide victory for the Awami League-led Grand Alliance (Bangladesh), Grand Alliance led by Sheik ...

as a candidate of

. He received 393,136 votes while his nearest rival, Monir Hossein of

, received 76,582. He won the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

by attaining 195,827 votes, according to national statistics, which was canceled after 5th August, 2024. The International Crimes Tribunal issued an arrest warrant against him on 30th April, 2025, for organizing violent attacks on the

movement Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...

protestors before the end of his tenure as the member of parliament.

Popular culture

'' Khela Hobe'' (English: The game is on) is a popular

political slogan Slogan, Slogans and Catchphrase, catchphrases are used by politicians, political parties, militaries, activists, and protestors to express or encourage particular beliefs or actions. List International usage * Better dead than RedAnti-communi ...

in Bangladesh and India, especially in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. The slogan was first used by Bangladeshi politician Osman. Prominent politicians from India have used 'Khela Hobe' repeatedly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osman, Shamim Living people Pradhan family Politicians from Dhaka Division Awami League politicians 1961 births Place of birth missing (living people) 10th Jatiya Sangsad members 11th Jatiya Sangsad members 7th Jatiya Sangsad members University of Dhaka alumni 12th Jatiya Sangsad members Bangladeshi exiles Fugitive politicians Exiled Bangladeshi politicians