Aminul Haque (1942/1943 – 21 April 2019) was a

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 ...

politician who served as the Bangladesh minister of post and telecommunications. A member of the

(BNP), he represented

Rajshahi-1 Rajshahi-1 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh. Since 6 August 2024 the constituency is vacant. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Godagari Upazila, Godagari and Tanore Upazila, Tanore up ...

as a member of parliament from 1991 to 2006.

Political career

Haque was a barrister. He was elected a member of parliament from the

constituency in the elections held in 1991, 1996 and 2001. He served as the post and telecommunications minister during 2001–2006.

Allegations and imprisonments

In 2005, a BNP MP from

Rajshahi-3 Rajshahi-3 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh. Since 6 August 2024 the constituency is vacant. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Mohanpur and Paba upazilas. History The constituen ...

constituency,

Abu Hena Abu Hena is an Indian National Congress politician, who was a cabinet minister and is a five-time Member of the Legislative Assembly. Early life and education Abu Hena was born on 31 January 1950 to a Bengali family of Muslim Bishwases in the ...

, alleged that Haque was among several party members who were affiliated with

Bangla Bhai Siddique ul-Islam (), known popularly as Azizur Rahman ( in Arabic) or Bangla Bhai () (1970 – 30 March 2007), was a Bangladeshi jihadist and the military commander of the Al Qaeda affiliated radical Islamist organization Jagrata Muslim Ja ...

, military commander of a local Islamist organization. In November, Hena was expelled from the party for the statements over the rise of Islamic militancy in the country. Bangla Bhai, before his execution in January 2007, disclosed Haque's name as one of the patrons of Islamist militancy. In July 2007, Haque was sentenced ''in absentia'' to 31 years and six months' imprisonment for aiding and abetting the militants of

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh ("Assembly of Mujahideen–Bangladesh", abbreviated: JMB; ) is an Islamist militant terrorist organisation operating in Terrorism in Bangladesh, Bangladesh. It is listed as a terror group by Bangladesh, terrorism i ...

(JMB) in extorting and torturing people in

Bagmara Upazila Bagmara Upazila () is an upazila of Rajshahi District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Geography Bagmara is located to the north of Rajshahi city, about 42km distant from the city. It is located within 24°30' and 24°41' north latitudes ...

in 2004. In May 2009,

Frontline World ''Frontline'' (stylized in all capital letters) is an investigative documentary program distributed by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Episodes are produced at WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts. The series has covered a ...

, a US-based news service, reported he had received bribes from the German company,

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

in 2004. In July 2009, Haque surrendered and was sent to jail. In January 2018, Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

named Haque as one of the 50 Bangladeshis whose names were included in the

Paradise Papers The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsche Z ...

Death

Haque died on 21 April 2019 at the age of 76 by lung cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haque, Aminul 1940s births 2019 deaths People from Rajshahi District Politicians from Rajshahi Division Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians 5th Jatiya Sangsad members 6th Jatiya Sangsad members 7th Jatiya Sangsad members 8th Jatiya Sangsad members Ministers of posts, telecommunications and information technology of Bangladesh Date of birth missing