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Hasan Mahmud (politician)

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Hasan Mahmud
হাছান মাহমুদ
Mahmud in 2024
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
11 January 2024 – 6 August 2024
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byAK Abdul Momen
Succeeded byMd. Touhid Hossain
Member of Parliament
In office
7 January 2014 – 6 August 2024
Preceded byMoin Uddin Khan Badal
ConstituencyChittagong-7
In office
29 December 2008 – 6 January 2014
Preceded byA.B.M. Fazle Karim Chowdhury
Succeeded byA.B.M. Fazle Karim Chowdhury
ConstituencyChittagong-6
Minister of Information and Broadcasting
In office
7 January 2019 – 10 January 2024
Preceded byHasanul Haq Inu
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
In office
29 November 2011 – 24 January 2014
Preceded byChowdhury Sajjadul Karim
Succeeded byAnwar Hossain Manju
Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change
In office
1 August 2009 – 28 November 2011
Preceded byJafrul Islam Chowdhury
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
8 January 2009 – 31 July 2009
Preceded byIftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
Succeeded byShahriar Alam
Personal details
Born
Muhammad Hasan Mahmud

(1963-06-05) 5 June 1963 (age 61)
Chittagong, East Pakistan, Pakistan
NationalityBangladeshi
Political partyBangladesh Awami League
EducationDoctor of Philosophy in Environmental Chemistry
Alma mater

Muhammad Hasan Mahmud (born 5 June 1963) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician who is a former member of Jatiya Sangsad representing the Chittagong-7 constituency.[1] In January 2019, he was appointed as the minister of information and In January 2024, as the minister of foreign affairs.[2]

Early life

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Muhammad Hasan Mahmud was born on 5 June 1963 in Chittagong. He completed his bachelor's and master's in chemistry from the University of Chittagong in 1987 and 1989 respectively.[3] He completed a second masters from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in environmental science in 1996.[4] He earned his PhD in environmental chemistry from Transnational University Limburg in 2001.[4]

Career

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In 1977, Mahmud joined the Bangladesh Chhatra League.[4] In 1988, he became the president of the Chittagong University unit of the Bangladesh Chhatra League. He was involved in controlling campuses as a Chhatra League cadre on behalf of Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu.[5]

During 1996–2001, Mahmud served as the political and parliamentary affairs adviser to then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.[6] In 2001, he was appointed special assistant to then opposition leader of parliament, Sheikh Hasina.[4] He was appointed the secretary of environment and forest affairs of the Awami League.[4]

Mahmud was the Jatiya Sangsad member from Chittagong-6 constituency during 2008–2014.[7] He had received 101,340 votes while his nearest rival of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, received 72,073 votes.[8]

Mahmud was appointed as the state minister for foreign affairs in January 2009 in Sheikh Hasina's cabinet but 6 months later he was moved to the position of state minister for environment and forests.[9][10][11] In November 2011, he was promoted to the full minister of environment and forest and served the position until the end of 2013.[6][12]

Mahmud was elected to parliament from Chittagong-7 in 2014 as a candidate of the Awami League in an uncontested election.[13] In the election 50 percent of the seats were won without a vote as the main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led alliance boycotted the election.[14]

Mahmud was re-elected to parliament from Chittagong-7 in 2018 as a candidate of the Awami League.[15] He had received 217,155 votes while his nearest rival from Liberal Democratic Party, Md Nurul Alam, received 6,065 votes.[15]

In September 2022, Mahmud was nominated to the Awami League Local Government Public Representative Nomination Board.[16] Secretary Md Mokbul Hossain at the Information Ministry under Mahmud was sent to forced retirement in October.[17][18]

Corruption

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During Mahmud's tenure as Environment minister from 2009 to 2013, multiple allegations of corruption surfaced involving the allocation of climate change funds. The Bangladesh chapter of Transparency International provided with credible allegations of political influence and nepotism in distributing contracts in climate change related projects, and corruption in selecting NGOs to operate the ground works.[19] The corruption in climate projects awarded during his tenure was subject of SOAS University of London's study on corruption.[20] According to a BBC Bengali report, Hasan Mahmud acknowledged the corrupt practices and downplayed it as "comparatively less than before".[21]

On 6 August 2024, Mahmud attempted to flee to Delhi, India after Sheikh Hasina's resignation as prime minister the previous day during the Non-cooperation movement (2024) but was intercepted and detained at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.[22] On 11 August, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) ordered banks to freeze all accounts of Mahmud, his wife, Nurun, and their daughter, Nafisa.[23][24]

Personal life

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Mahmud is married to Nurun Fatema Hasan.[12] They have a daughter, Nafisa Zumaina Mahmud.[24] Nafisa is the chairperson of Green TV, a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "List of 10th Parliament Members". Bangladesh Parliament. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  2. ^ "47-member new cabinet announced". The Daily Star. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Profile Of Ministers". The Daily Star. 9 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)". BSS. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  5. ^ Zaman, Amin Al (2004). "Party Factionalism in Bangladesh: A Case Study of the Awami League (1971-97)" (PDF). Aligarh Muslim University Thesis. India: 490. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2021 – via CORE.
  6. ^ a b "Two of the old guard made ministers". The Daily Star. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  7. ^ "List of 9th Parliament Members". Bangladesh Parliament (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Electoral Area Result Statistics". Amarmp. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Hasina chooses 25 novice ministers, makes personal physician foreign minister". Thaindian. Indo-Asian News Service. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  10. ^ "Hasan Mahmud removed from foreign min". bdnews24.com. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  11. ^ "Govt forms 26 parliamentary bodies". BanglaNews24. 2 April 2014. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  12. ^ a b Tusher, Hasan Jahid; Hasan, Rashidul; Bin Habib, Wasim (13 January 2014). "Many go, a few stay". The Daily Star. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Electoral Area Result Statistics". Amarmp. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  14. ^ "The number now goes up to 151". Dhaka Tribune. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Get 11th Bangladesh National Election 2018 Results". The Daily Star. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Hasan nominated as member of AL local govt nomination board". Daily Sun. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  17. ^ "Info secretary Mokbul Hossain sent on retirement". The Business Standard. 16 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Ex-info secretary Mokbul's "financial scam": HC wants to know ACC action". The Daily Star. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  19. ^ Md Mahfuzul Haque; M Zakir Hossain Khan; Mohua Rouf (2013). Climate Finance in Bangladesh: Governance Challenges and Way Out. Transparency International Bangladesh. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.24481.86887. ISBN 978-984-33-7990-0.
  20. ^ Khan, M.; Watkins, Michael T.; Aminuzzaman, S.; Khair, S.; Khan, Muhammad Zakir Hossain (2020). "Climate change investments in Bangladesh: leveraging dual-use characteristics as an anti-corruption tool". S2CID 231968242.
  21. ^ জলবায়ু তহবিল নিয়ে দুর্নীতি. BBC News বাংলা (in Bengali). 30 April 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Hasan Mahmud detained at Dhaka airport". Dhaka Tribune. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  23. ^ "Regulator orders freeze on bank accounts of Hasan Mahmud, family members". The Daily Star. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  24. ^ a b "সাবেক মন্ত্রী হাছান মাহমুদ, স্ত্রী ও মেয়ের সব ব্যাংক হিসাব জব্দের নির্দেশ". Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  25. ^ "জমকালো আয়োজনে গ্রিন টিভির যাত্রা শুরু". Prothomalo (in Bengali). 19 May 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2024.