Sayeed Iskander (13 January 1953 – 23 September 2012) was a Bangladeshi politician and army major. He was a member of the Bangladeshi parliament from 2001 to 2006, representing 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 ...

from the

Feni-1 Feni-1 is a constituency of the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh. Since 6 August 2024, the seat has been vacant. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Chhagalnaiya, Fulgazi, and Parshuram upazilas. History The constitu ...

constituency. He was the younger brother of former Prime Minister

Khaleda Zia Begum Khaleda Zia (born August–September 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second fema ...

. Iskander was also the founding chairman of Islamic Television.

Early life

Sayeed Iskander was born on 13 January 1953 in

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( ) is a city and the district headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka. It is bounded on the north by Suihari, Katapara, Bangi ...

. 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 ...

family with origins in Fulgazi,

Feni District Feni District () is a coastal Districts of Bangladesh, district situated in the south-east of Bangladesh, within Chittagong Division. One of Bangladesh's smallest districts, it is strategically located along the N1 (Bangladesh), Dhaka–Chittago ...

. He was the son of tea-businessman Iskandar Ali Majumder, who was in turn the son of Salamat Ali Majumdar, who was the son of Azgar Ali Majumdar, who was the son of Nahar Muhammad Khan, who was the son of Murad Khan, a 16th-century

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

immigrant. His mother, Taiyaba Majumder, was from Chandbari (now in

Uttar Dinajpur District Uttar Dinajpur (), also known as North Dinajpur, is one of the 23 districts of the state of West Bengal in India. The district is the part of Malda Division. Raiganj city is the headquarters of the district. This district bifurcated on 1 Apri ...

). During his time as a student in 1969, Iskander was the general secretary of the Dinajpur unit of

Bangladesh Students Union Bangladesh Students' Union (, abbreviated as BSU) is a left-wing student organization in Bangladesh. The organization was established on 26 April 1952. The organization is the mass organization of Communist Party of Bangladesh. During the In ...

. He went on to become the vice president of the Central Committee of the Students Union.

Career

He joined the Bangladesh Army in 1975. He retired from the army in 1982 with the rank of major. Iskander then joined the

, a political party founded by his brother-in-law President

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

. After his elder sister

gave up her seat at the

constituency, Iskander competed in a by-election in November 2001 and successfully won a seat in parliament.

Death

He died from lung cancer on 23 September 2012 in New York, United States. He was buried in

Banani Military Graveyard Banani may refer to: People * Bruno Banani (luger), a Tongan Olympian Places * Banani, Mali a village * Banani Model Town, a neighbourhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh * Banani Lake, Dhaka, Bangladesh Other uses * Bruno Banani, a German fashion comp ...

References

Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians 8th Jatiya Sangsad members Bangladesh Army officers 1953 births 2012 deaths People from Fulgazi Upazila Politicians from Chittagong Division 21st-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis 21st-century Muslims 20th-century Muslims Bangladeshi Sunni Muslims Majumder–Zia family {{BangladeshNationalistParty-politician-stub