Abul Hasan Chowdhury (born 15 April 1951; known as Kaiser) is a Bangladeshi politician. He served as the State Minister of Foreign Affairs and a

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

Tangail-1 Tangail-1 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by popula ...

constituency for two terms.

Early life and education

Chowdhury was born on 15 April 1951 in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

. He belonged 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 ...

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

family from Nagbari in

Tangail Tangail (, ) is a city of Tangail District in central Bangladesh. A significant city in Bangladesh, Tangail lies on the bank of the Louhajang River, northwest of Dhaka, the nation's capital. Etymology ''Tangail'' originates from the Beng ...

, then part of

Mymensingh district Mymensingh District () is a district in Mymensingh Division Bangladesh, and is bordered in the north by Meghalaya, India and the Garo Hills, in the south by Gazipur District, in the east by the districts of Netrokona and Kishoreganj and in ...

. He is the eldest son of a former president of Bangladesh,

Abu Sayeed Chowdhury Abu Sayeed Chowdhury (31 January 1921 – 2 August 1987) was a jurist and the second president of Bangladesh. Besides that, he held the positions of the chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the vice-chancellor of the Uni ...

. His grandfather, Abdul Hamid Chowdhury, was a former speaker of the

East Pakistan Provincial Assembly The East Pakistan Provincial Assembly, known as the East Bengal Legislative Assembly between 1947 and 1955, was the provincial legislature of East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. It was known as the East Bengal Assembly from 1947 to 1955 when the ...

. After completing his primary and secondary education from St. Gregory’s High School in 1968, Chowdhury was admitted to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

where he studied philosophy, politics and economics and obtained his M.A. in 1976.

Career

Chowdhury joined the

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 ...

in 1990. He won his first election in 1991 from his ancestral constituency, Madhupur. He was the opposition whip and international affairs secretary of Awami league from 1991 to 1996, while the party was in opposition. After winning his second election in 1996 he served as the state minister of foreign affairs.

Controversy

The World Bank pulled out the $1.2 Bn funding for the Padma bridge project on the grounds that there was conspiracy to commit corruption. Abul Hasan Chowdhury, along with a few others, were accused of using connections in order to acquire the project. The Royal Canada Mounted Police filed a case in Toronto against the accused. In 2015, the ACC investigated the case of Padma Bridge Scandal. After the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

continuously pushed the government to take actions against the alleged perpetrators, after 53 days' of investigation, ACC found nobody to be guilty. On the basis of ACC's report, Dhaka district judge court acquitted all the seven government officials who were alleged to have been involved in the corruption plot. Before that, the ACC exonerated

Syed Abul Hossain Syed Abul Hossain (1 August 1951 – 25 October 2023) was a Bangladeshi businessman and politician. He was the managing director and chairman of SAHCO International Ltd. He served as a member of the Bangladesh Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) for fo ...

and Chowdhury from the allegation of involvement in the corruption conspiracy. In 2017, the Canadian court found no proof of Padma bridge conspiracy and the Ontario Superior Court acquitted all, dismissing the case.

Personal life

Chowdhury is married to Nahid Chowdhury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Abul Hasan Living people 1951 births People from Kalihati Upazila Alumni of the University of Oxford Awami League politicians 5th Jatiya Sangsad members 7th Jatiya Sangsad members Children of presidents of Bangladesh