Shafiqur Rahaman Chowdhury ( bn, শফিকুর রহমান চৌধুরী) is a

Bangladesh Awami League 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 ...

politician and the former Member of Parliament of

Sylhet-2 Sylhet-2 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2019 by Mokabbir Khan of the Gano Forum. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Bishwanath and Osmani Nagar upazilas. History The cons ...

Early life and education

Chowdhury was born into a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family in the village of Chandbharang in Dashghar Union,

Bishwanath Bishwanath ( bn, বিশ্বনাথ) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. History One of the palaces of Gour Govinda, the last Hindu ruler of Sylhet, was situated in present-day Bishwanath. Its ruins ar ...

, Sylhet District,

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

(now

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 was a descendant of Shah Chand, whom the village is named after, who was the son of Shaykh Kalu, a disciple of

Shah Jalal Jalāl Mujarrad Kunyāʾī (), popularly known as Shah Jalal, was a celebrated Sufi figure of Bengal. His name is often associated with the Conquest of Sylhet and the spread of Islam into the region, part of a long history of interactions betw ...

who participated in the Muslim

conquest of Sylhet The Conquest of Sylhet ( bn, শ্রীহট্টের বিজয়, Srīhôtter Bijôy, Conquest of Srihatta) predominantly refers to an Islamic conquest of Srihatta (present-day Sylhet, Bangladesh) led by Sikandar Khan Ghazi, the mili ...

in 1303. His father was Abdul Matlib Chowdhury, a notable community leader abroad, and his mother was Latifun Nisa Chowdhury. Chowdhury received his

Secondary School Certificate The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) or Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC), Matriculation examination, is a public examination in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan conducted by educational boards for the successful completion of the seco ...

from Chandbharang High School in 1972. He moved on to study at the

Murari Chand College Murari Chand College ( bn, মুরারিচাঁদ কলেজ) (usually referred to as MC College) was the first college in the Sylhet Division. It was established in 1892, making it the seventh oldest college in Bangladesh. Since then i ...

in Sylhet where he got his Higher Secondary School Certificate in 1975 and

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in 1979.

Career

Chowdhury became a member of the

Bangladesh Chhatra League The Bangladesh Chhatra League ( bn, বাংলাদেশ ছাত্রলীগ; translation: Bangladesh Students' League; BSL), formerly known as the East Pakistan Student League, often simply called the Chhatra League, is a students' p ...

as a student in 1969. After moving to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1978, he became involved with the Awami League and served numerous roles as part of the United Kingdom Awami League branch. He also served as secretary for the

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

Community Development Trust, director of the

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

City Challenge, president of the Bishwanath Expatriate Education Trust, and secretary of the Expatriate Voting Rights Implementation Committee. He served as co-chairman for numerous sub-committees and was a member of the London

Boishakhi Mela The Boishakhi Mela ( bn, বৈশাখী মেলা, Boishakhi Mela, Fair of Boishakh) is a Bengali celebration ( mela) which takes place outside of Bangladesh. It is celebrated by the Bangladeshi diaspora in the United Kingdom, United ...

Committee,

Banglatown Brick Lane (Bengali: ব্রিক লেন) is a street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest ...

Bastabayan and London Bangladesh Centre Ad Hoc Committee. Chowdhury was elected to parliament from Sylhet-2 as a Bangladesh Awami League candidate in 2008. He resided in the United Kingdom and returned to Bangladesh for the election.

References

Awami League politicians Living people 9th Jatiya Sangsad members 1957 births People from Bishwanath Upazila 20th-century Bengalis 21st-century Bengalis Bangladeshi emigrants to England Murari Chand College alumni {{AwamiLeague-politician-stub