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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 – 5 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, Bengal, British India
NationalityBangladeshi
Political partyBangladesh Awami League
Alma materUniversity of Dhaka

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 is currently the coordinator and spokesman for the Awami League-led 14-party Grand Alliance.[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 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]

Personal life

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Amu was married to Feroza Hossain. He has no children.[28] Feroza died from cancer while under treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore on 1 November 2007.[28]

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. ^ a b "Amu's wife Feroza passes away". The Daily Star. UNB. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
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