Anwar Bakht Choudhury (; born 15 June 1959) is a British diplomat of

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

origin. Through his career, he has served as

Governor of the Cayman Islands The governor of the Cayman Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the Cayman Islands. The governor, a civil servant who has in modern times typically been a British subject normally ...

, British Ambassador to Peru, Director of International Institutions at the

Foreign & Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

and British High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Choudhury has spent much of his life working intimately with the British Bangladeshi community, cementing himself as a respected figure through his many public appearances and charitable work.

Early life

Choudhury was born on 15 June 1959, 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 ...

family in

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 ...

(now

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 ...

). His family is originally from the village of Prabhakarpur, Patli Union, Jagannathpur, Sunamganj, and moved to the United Kingdom when he was young.

Education

Choudhury followed an unusual route into the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

; in 1985, he attained a BSc in

Electrical and Electronic Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

. He worked at

Siemens Plessey Siemens Plessey was the name given to the Plessey assets acquired by Siemens in 1989. Today most of these units are part of BAE Systems while some units are now part of EADS. History Background : before 1989 The history of the evolution of Sieme ...

, before entering the Civil Service as an engineering strategist with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. In 1995, he graduated with a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

Career

Choudhury was promoted through the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

until 2000, when he was recruited by the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

, before being headhunted for the position of High Commissioner to Bangladesh. He was succeeded in 2008 by Stephen Evans. When he was appointed as High Commissioner to Bangladesh in 2004, he became one of the first two British ambassadors from

ethnic minority The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

backgrounds to be appointed in modern times (the other being Alp Mehmet, who was appointed Ambassador to Iceland). He was sworn in as

on 26 March 2018.

Grenade attack

On 21 May 2004, Choudhury was targeted in a failed

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

attack, in which he was wounded and two bystanders were killed. The attempted assassination came as he was leaving the Dargah-e-Shah Jalal mosque in

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division () is a northeastern Divisions of Bangladesh, division of Bangladesh, renowned for its lush tea gardens, rolling hills and vibrant cultural heritage. Covering an area of approximately 12,298 square kilometres, it is bordered by t ...

, his home province, following

Jumu'ah Friday prayer, or congregational prayer (), is the meeting together of Muslims for communal prayer and service at midday every Friday. In Islam, the day itself is called ''Yawm al-Jum'ah'' (shortened to ''Jum'ah''), which translated from Arabic me ...

(Friday prayers). In December 2008, three attackers were sentenced to death and two others to life in prison for the attack.

Recall to London

Choudhury was recalled to London in June 2018 after unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct. On 20 September 2018 it was announced that he would not be returning to the Cayman Islands despite no criminal actions being found to have been committed Choudhury, widespread popularity, and petitions to reinstate him being circulated by local government officials.

Personal life

Choudhury is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. His main interests include folk music of Bengal (

baul The Baul () are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism and Vaishnavism from different parts of Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls constitute bot ...

). He is also passionate about community integration and protection of the UK abroad. He is married to Momina Choudhury and has three daughters. He also has a son from his first marriage. He has three brothers. His hobbies include playing

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

. He has interest in

Bangladeshi cuisine Bangladeshi cuisine has been shaped by the region's history and river-line geography. Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate. The staple foods of Bangladesh are rice and fish. The majority of Bangladeshi people are ethnic Bengali, with a ...

too. Choudhury has dismissed suggestions of a conflict of loyalty, stating that he would support the

English cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket in Wales, Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Maryleb ...

against the one in Bangladesh.

References

External links

* *
Profile on UK Government Portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Anwar 1959 births Living people Bangladeshi Muslims British Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to England Governors of the Cayman Islands British people of Bangladeshi descent Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Bangladesh Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Peru Civil servants in the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Civil servants in the Cabinet Office People from Aylesbury Alumni of Durham University Alumni of the University of Salford People from Patli Union