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Amir Hossain Amu

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Amir Hossain Amu
আমির হোসেন আমু
Amu in 2015
Member of the Bangladesh Parliament
for Jhalokati-2
In office
25 January 2009 – 6 August 2024
Preceded byIsrat Sultana Elen Bhutto
Minister of Industries
In office
14 January 2014 – December 2019
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byDilip Barua
Succeeded byNurul Majid Mahmud Humayun
Minister of Food of Bangladesh
In office
March 2000 – July 2001[1]
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byA. Z. M. Naziruddin
Advisory Council Member of Bangladesh Awami League
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 January 2022
Personal details
Born (1940-01-01) 1 January 1940 (age 84)
Jhalokati, Bakerganj,
Political partyBangladesh Awami League
Alma materUniversity of Dhaka
Criminal Information
Criminal statusArrested, awaiting trials
Criminal chargeCrimes against humanity during Student–People's uprising, corruption, extortion

Amir Hossain Amu (born 1 January 1940) is a Bangladeshi politician, a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Jhalokati-2 constituency,[2] and served as the minister of industries during 2014–2019.[3] He was the coordinator and spokesman for the Awami League-led 14-party Grand Alliance he has been arrested in 2024 for crime against humanity .[4]

Birth and education

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Amu was born on 1 January 1940 in Jhalakathi subdivision of Barisal district. His father Mohammad Moazzem Hossain and mother Aklima Khatun. He obtained a BA from Barisal BM College in 1965 and an LLB from Barisal Law College in 1968. He earned a graduation degree in history from the University of Dhaka.[5]

Career

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Amu contested the general election in 1991 from Jhalokati-2 as a candidate of the Awami League but came third after Gazi Aziz Ferdous of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Zulfiker Ali Bhutto of the Jatiya Party.[6] He had received 30,808 while the winner had received 43,673 votes.[6]

Amu contested the general election in 2001 from Jhalokati-2 as a candidate of the Awami League but lost to Israt Sultana Elen Bhutto of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[6] He had received 54,378 votes while she had received 92,116 votes.[6]

On 23 July 2003, Amu's house in Jhalokati District was vandalized by Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists who destroyed the boundary, door, and windows of the house.[7] In December 2003, he failed to address a rally in Munshiganj district marking the triennial council of the party due to road blocks by activists of the governing Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[8]

Amu was injured in the August 2004 Dhaka grenade attack which was an attempted assassination of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina at a rally of the Awami League.[9]

When party president Sheikh Hasina was exiled by the caretaker government of Bangladesh (2006–08), Amu became one of top leaders who preserved and represented the party in her absence.[10][11] However, he also developed differences with Hasina, criticising her for making a pact with the Islamist Khelafat Majlish party despite the Awami League's policy of secularism, and not discussing it first with other party leaders.[10][11] Sheikh Hasina in turn criticised Amu for appearing supportive of the caretaker government.[10][11] Activists of Awami League opposed to reforms attacked followers of Amu at the party office in September 2007.[12] He was removed from the newly reformed central committee of the Awami League in July 2009.[13]

In 2008, Amu was elected to parliament from Jhalokati-2 as a candidate of the Awami League with 104,444 votes while his nearest rival Israt Sultana Elen Bhutto of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party received 73,851.[14]

Amu was re-elected unopposed in the 2014 general election from Jhalokati-2 after opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, withdrew their candidacies in a boycott of the general election.[15] He was appointed the minister of industries in the third Sheikh Hasina cabinet.[16][17] He was against leasing land of state owned enterprises to private companies.[18]

Amu represented Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the inauguration ceremony of Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, in 2016.[19] In March 2017, a constable of Barisal Metropolitan Police was suspended for taking selfies with Amu while on duty protecting him.[20] In August 2017, he spoke against Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha for his comments against the government in a verdict which scrapped the 16th Amendment to the constitution of Bangladesh.[21]

In 2018, Amu was elected to parliament from Jhalokati-2 as a candidate of the Awami League with 214,937 while his closest rival, Jeba Amina Khan of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, received 5,982.[22] He was not appointed a minister in the fourth Sheikh Hasina cabinet.[23] In July 2020, Amu was appointed coordinator of the Awami League led 14-Party alliance.[24]

In December 2022, Amu presided over a meeting of the Awami League led 14-Party alliance in which left wing parties in the alliance criticised the Awami League for ignoring their input.[25] Amu reported that the government could not remove Islam as the state religion of Bangladesh due to internal opposition in the Awami League.[26] He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Awami League.[27]

On August 6, 2024, Bangladesh’s parliament was dissolved following the resignation and self-imposed exile of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.[28] Consequently, Amu lost his parliamentary seat and went into seclusion. The next day, authorities reported the recovery of ৳50,000,000 in cash from Amu's residence in Jhalokathi after the property was set on fire by an unidentified mob.[29] On August 17, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit froze all bank accounts associated with Amu and his daughter, Sumaiya Hossain. On November 6, Amu was apprehended by the Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police in the West Dhanmondi area of Dhaka.[30]

Personal life

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Amu was married to Feroza Hossain. She died from cancer while under treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore on 1 November 2007.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Baxter, Craig; Rahman, Syedur (2003). Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh. Scarecrow Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-8108-4863-4.
  2. ^ "List of 11th Parliament Members". Bangladesh Parliament. 10 January 2019. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Press Information Department (PID), Government of Bangladesh". pressinform.portal.gov.bd. Archived from the original on 13 March 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Amir Hossain Amu named coordinator of Awami League-led 14-party alliance". bdnews24.com. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Minister's profile". Ministry of Industries, Government of Bangladesh. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d "Parliament Election Result of 1991, 1996, 2001 Bangladesh Election Information and Statistics". 29 December 2008. Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Amu's residence damaged by JCD, Jubo Dal men". The Daily Star. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  8. ^ "BNP men's attack foils AL's Munshiganj council". The Daily Star. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Assassination attempt on Hasina". The Daily Star. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  10. ^ a b c "Hasina, Amu trade blames". New Age. 24 June 2007. Archived from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  11. ^ a b c "Hasina warns of plot against AL". New Age. 24 June 2007. Archived from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  12. ^ "Amu-led leaders face party workers' wrath". The Daily Star. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  13. ^ Liton, Shakhawat; Tusher, Hasan Jahid (30 July 2009). "Veterans vetted out of AL leadership". The Daily Star. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  14. ^ "Bangladesh Parliament Election - Detail Results". Amar Desh. 8 February 2018. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  15. ^ "AL closer to majority before voting". New Age. 16 February 2018. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Industries Minister Amu backs secretary on blaming 'vested quarter' for deaths of Santals". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  17. ^ "Dhaka keen to do business with India: Industries Minister Amu". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Amu rules out leasing of govt lands". The Daily Star. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Mamata invites Hasina". The Daily Star. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Cop suspended for taking selfie with minister". The Daily Star. 4 March 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Expunge comments against country or face public wrath, Amu asks CJ". The Daily Star. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  22. ^ "Jhalokathi-2 - Constituency detail of Bangladesh General Election 2018". The Daily Star. 25 November 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  23. ^ "The AL big shots dropped". The Daily Star. UNB. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  24. ^ "Amu made coordinator of 14-party alliance". The Daily Star. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  25. ^ Bhattacharjee, Partha Pratim (9 December 2022). "AL under fire from allies". The Daily Star. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  26. ^ "Faced veto for trying to exclude state religion: Amu". The Daily Star. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  27. ^ "In 1979 Sheikh Rehana first made global call for trial of Bangabandhu's killers: Speakers". The Daily Star. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  28. ^ "Bangladesh Parliament dissolved, president's office says". Reuters. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  29. ^ "Amu arrested in the capital". The Daily Star. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  30. ^ "Banks asked to freeze accounts of Amir Hossain Amu, daughter". The Daily Star. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  31. ^ "Amu's wife Feroza passes away". The Daily Star. UNB. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
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