Abul Hasan Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi politician and the former state

Minister of foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. He served as the state minister for foreign affairs from 1996 to 2001 under the

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

government.

Early life

Abul Hasan Chowdhury was born in Dhaka in April 1951. He is the eldest son of the former president of Bangladesh

Abu Sayeed Chowdhury Abu Sayeed Chowdhury (31 January 1921 – 2 August 1987) was a jurist and the President of Bangladesh. Besides that, he held the positions of the Chairmen of the United Nations Commission on Human rights, the vice-chancellor of the University ...

and the grandson of former Speaker of East Pakistan

Abdul Hamid Chowdhury Abdul Hamid Chowdhury ( bn, আব্দুল হামিদ চৌধুরী; died 4 September 1969) was a Bengali politician and zamindar who was the Speaker of the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly from 1962 to 1968. Early life and family ...

. After completing his primary and secondary education from Dhaka, Bangladesh he went to Oxford to study PPE.

Politics

Abul Hasan Chowdhury joined Bangladesh Awami League in 1990. He won his first election in 1991 from his ancestral constituency, Modhupur. He was the opposition whip and international affairs secretary of Bangladesh 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.

Dismissal of all Charges

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 grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

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 ( bn, সৈয়দ আবুল হোসেন; born 1 August 1951) is a Bangladeshi politician and businessman. He is a member of the Bangladesh Awami League and served as a member of the Parliament of Bangladesh since 199 ...

and ex-state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan 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

Abul Hasan Chowdhury is married to Nahid Chowdhury.

References

Awami League politicians Living people 1951 births {{AwamiLeague-politician-stub