Maulana Shah Muhammad Anas - BB Who's Who 1986, Maulana Shah ... Maulana Shah Muhammad Anas is now married. He has been blessed with five adorable ... cooperation with Advocate Azhar

British Bangladeshi Who’s Who 2008

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Maulana Shah Muhammad AnasPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Religious

Qari Muhammad Gias Uddin ofGulduba village, Habigonj

District, was the father of Mr.Muhammad Anas. Maulana ShahMuhammad Anas was born inBangladesh on the 14th ofSeptember in the year of 1965.Four years after his birth in 1969,was when he, his mother and hiselder brother left their homeland ofBangladesh, to go and live in theUK. There their father lived and sothey came to join him. Together thefamily lived in Earls Court, inLondon.

From 1970, he attended and fin-ished his early studies up to sec-ondary school. This school waslocated in Portsmouth. Afterwardsin 1986, Maulana ShahMuhammed Anas completed hisAalim course, M.A in IslamicTheology. He undertook thiscourse and finished it in Europe’sfirst ever-Islamic College andUniversity, the Darul- Uloom BuryLancashire.

Straight after, Mr. MuhammadAnas started to work. In 1988 hewas appointed the first Imam and

Khateeb of International KhatmeNubuwwwat Centre, which waslocated in Stockwell, London.Subsequently, for three years from1990 to 1993, he had the role ofbeing the Imam for Poplar JameMasjid, also in London. From theyear 2003 and to this day, MaulanaShah Muhammed Anas is thePrincipal Imam of an IslamicSchool/ College, which is calledZakariya Academy.

Besides his different career roleshe has had over the many years,Mr. Muhammed Anas has alwaysmade time to get himself involvedwith various community organisa-tions and made sure that he has

had an impact on the society helives in. He was one of thecandidates to represent the area ofWapping, for the local CouncilElections in 1990. In 1991, he tookon the role of being a Trustee forJamiah Islamiah in East Sussex,Kent. In addition to that, he wasalso the Chairman for JamiatushShabaab in 1995. At the moment,Maulana Shah Muhammad Anasis the Chairman for JamiatulUlama.

Maulana Shah Muhammad Anasis now married. He has beenblessed with five adorablechildren, all of whom havesupported him and still do.

Mr Ashaque Ahmed (Ashuk)Place of Residence: Ilford, EssexSector: Catering and Community Relations


Mr Ashaque Ahmed is the current Office secretaryof the UK Awami League. The Essex based

entrepreneur has established himself as one mostsuccessful businessman in the British BangladeshiCommunity. Son of Alhaj Abdul Khalique from BeaniBazar, Kashba Boro Bari, Sylhet in Bangladesh, MrAhmed studied there before moving to the UK in1975.Whilst completing his studies in Bangladesh, MrAhmed held numerous influential positions asPresident of the Student Union in addition to servingas the founder general secretary of Beani bazaarUnnoyon Shongsta in the early seventies. Afterarriving in the UK in 1975, the former President of theStudent Union experienced a lot of racial tensionsfrom various political sub groups and as a resultbecame a prominent activist against East London’sNational Front.However, after being employed in a range of differentindustries, Mr Ahmed launched a garment factory inEast London in 1979. Five years later, Mr Ahmedturned his attention on the catering industry and start-ed a chain of restaurants all across London. Notably,the ‘Sagor Indian Restaurant’ based in East Londonwas recommended in the Good Food Guide and wasscreened twice on the Channel 4 documentary “CurryConnection”. In the mid- eighties, the restaurateuralso successfully invested in property and land in UKand Bangladesh including ex-prime minister’s officeHawa Bobon, as well as setting up a travel agent.Mr Ahmed over the last thirty years has greatlycontributed towards socio-political welfare projects inboth UK and Bangladesh. In the late seventies andearly eighties, the Essex based businessman was thefounder secretary of the Jalalabad Probashi Shongsta(UK) and helped launch the Greater Sylhet develop-ment and Welfare council as a founder member. Themember of the Bangladesh catering Association UKalso played a central role during the silver Jubileeevent of Bangladesh’s Independence in London’sTrafalgar Square. Mr Ahmed has always donated kindly towards the

Shahjalal Masjid in Manor Park, and in Bangladesh,the restaurateur is a lifelong donor of the Beani BazarSenior Kamil Madhrasha, Gulabshah HafizaMadhrasha and the Sylhet Bilbagh Unnoyon PorishodDhaka. Mr Ahmed is also the Founder President ofBeani Bazar Jonokolliyan Somitee UK, which was thefirst Thana committee in the UK in the late eighties. Anadvisor for the Beani Bazar Pouro UnnoyonShongsta, Mr Ahmed is also a Life member of theLondon press club. In 2000, Mr Ahmed helped launch the Beani BazarWelfare Trust of which he was the founder Presidentin addition to establishing a family run charity calledAshuk Hawa Education Trust in 2006 for which heserves as President respectively. In 2008, the formerPresident of Bangladesh Awami League Essexbranch created a charity for poor elderly, disabled,blind and those suffering from illnesses called theBangladesh Elderly Care. The restaurateur throughhis businesses helps schools, villages and homelesspeople as well as providing regular donation forvictims of natural disasters.Married to Mrs Haurun Ahmed (Hawa), the couplehave been blessed with four daughters who are allgraduates and one son who is currently completinghis education.

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Mr Abul Kalam AzadPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Information Technology

Abul Kalam Azad was born in1963 at the village Sultanpur,

Begumgonj, Noakhali. His father isMoulana Mujib Ullah and motherAyesha Begum. Among six broth-ers and one sister he is the eldest.He studied his primary educationin the Sultanpur Primary Schooland passed his SSC Examinationin 1978 from Gopalpur HighSchool, HSC and B.Com fromChoumuhani College in 1980 and1982 and M. Com from DhakaUniversity in 1986.

Mr Azad’s paternal grandfatherMaulana Ali Akbor has passed the‘Title’ from the DewbandMadrasha, India during 1935 andmaternal grandfather Mr Ali Azzamhad Graduated (B.A.) from theAligarh University during 1933.

Mr Azad worked with UnitedTraders Ltd in Dhaka from 1985 to1989. In July 1989 he left forUnited Kingdom.

Mr Azad started his professionallife in the UK by joining theDepartment of Health & SocialServices (DHSS). In 1990 hejoined Sonali Bank UK and workedin this Bank in different branchesincluding Kings Cross, Bradfordand Birmingham. He started hisown restaurant business in 1998 inLondon. In 2001 he started anoth-er business in the field of IT named'Inter Link' at Valence Road,Whitechapel, London El which stillis running. He established acollege named 'St. Peters College

of London' in East London in 2005.

Mr Azad is actively involved in dif-ferent socio cultural and politicalactivities since his school life. In1978 he established SultanpurSamaj Kallyan Samity and he wasthe founder General Secretary ofthis organization in 1980. Throughthis organization they impart adultand mass education in the area.The organization also helps theneedy people including theorphans. He was also one of thefounder members of the SultanpurHanif Bhuiyan High School in 1983and he served there as a teacherfor sometime. His father was alsoa teacher. In 1984 he establishedthe Dhaka based BeguingonjUpazilla Chhatra Kallyan Samity incooperation with Advocate AzharUllah and others.

During his college life Mr Azad wasthe Joint Secretary of theBegumgonj Thana ChhatraLeague. He was one of the

Founder Members of the EnfieldWelfare Association UK andfounder Assistant Secretary of it. In1993 he had taken a move to floatan organization for the people ofgreater Noakhali living in the UK.Due to his active role an organiza-tion was formed named 'GreaterNoakhali Association' on June 24,1994. Mr Azad became one of thetwo Joint convenors of its first con-vening committee with Mr. NurulHaque. In 1995 he became theSecretary General of this organi-zation. He was re-elected in thisposition 2003 to 2005. He hasestablished Azad Foundation in2006. Through this foundation hehas been supporting disadvan-taged and needy people.

Mr Azad is actively involved in var-ious social activities in U.K. andBangladesh for the last 30 years.He is married and blessed with twosons.

Mr. Ali M AzharPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Law (Barrister)


Born in Sirajganj, Bangladesh,Mr Azhar completed his MA at

Dhaka University in 1958. Duringhis student life, Mr Azhar wasdeeply involved in student politics.He became the General Secretaryof the entire East Pakistanstudents’ League and sufferedimprisonment on a number ofoccasions. He was called to thebar by the Honourable Society ofGray’s Inn in 1962, and since thenhe has been a huge success with-in the field of law.

Currently, he is the Head ofChambers at 9 Kings Bench Walkin Temple, London. However, ithas been a long and hard journeyto get to the elevated status that henow enjoys.

Mr Azhar began practising lawalongside his brother, the late Ali MAbbas, in 1962. At the time, Asianbarristers were few and farbetween, although the twobrothers quickly imposed theirexpertise onto the legal sector.Both brothers conducted severalcases either together or opposedto each other, which have set mile-stones in the British legal systemand are reported in the Englishlegal books and studied by all stu-

dents of law. Many laws werepassed by the British Parliamentas a follow-up of the outcome ofthese cases.

In the years since, Mr Azhar hasbecome a specialist in many of thevarious legal areas such as crimi-nal law, family law, claims for dam-ages and also human rights.

Mr Azhar is a deeply religious man,and it is this which initially helpedto lead him to his chosen profes-sion. This stems from his beliefthat the foundations of society arebased on laws, and since theQur’an is Allah’s book of laws, thenas Muslims, we should follow theQur’an in order to produce a stableand productive society. Mr Azharled the prosecution of the infa-mous writer Salman Rusdie in theBritish Supreme Court on theground that the writer had vilifiedIslam and made scurrilous attackson the beloved Prophet of Islam inhis profane book “Satanic Verses”.On behalf of millions of Muslimsacross the world, Mr Azhar tookthe case to the British High Court,then to the Court of Appeal andthen to the highest Court of theland, the House of Lords. Mr Azharspoke over 11 hours advocating

that the writer had committed theserious criminal offence ofblasphemy and had to bepunished accordingly.

Away from his work, Mr Azhar is aproud family man. He married hiswife, Mrs Farhat Azhar, in 1970,and they have two daughters –Shabeena Mahmuda andRubeena Mahmuda. BothShabeena and Rubeena are alsobarristers, and they both are ten-ants of their father’s chambers. Infact, a career in law almost seemsto be a prerequisite if you are with-in the extended family of Mr Azhar;Shabeena Mahmuda’s husband isalso a barrister, as is Mr Azhar’snephew Hafizur Rahman.

Clearly Mr Azhar can be seen as apioneer for British Bangladeshisas, along with his brother, MrAzhar’s initial strides into the arenaof law have allowed many othermembers of the community tofollow in their footsteps. For this,the community must be extremelygrateful as through his determina-tion and hard work, he hasbecome a wonderful representa-tive and ambassador for BritishBangladeshis.

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Alhaj Dr. M A AzizPlace of Residence: RedbridgeSector: Media

Awell known community leaderand philanthropist Alhaj Dr. M

A Aziz is currently residing in theRedbridge area of London. Hehails from the village of MusapurUnion in Companygonj Thanaunder Noakhali district ofBangladesh. The only son of lateMoulvi Abdur Rashid a well knownphilanthropist of his time.

Dr. M A Aziz started his educationfrom MM Madrassah and studiedBA (Hons) in political science. As ameritorious student who passedwith distinction and secured theexceptional talent pool in ComillaBoard in Bangladesh. He recentlyobtained a Ph. D. In 1976, hecame to United Kingdom tobecome a Barrister and to devotehimself in the legal profession butlater he changed his mind.

His ambition was not satisfied bybecoming a language and reli-gious teacher and in 1981 heestablished a printing company toserve the community and to build acloser relationship with expatriateBangladeshis in United Kingdom.The name of his printing companyis 'Languatec' which is an abbrevi-ation of Language and Technology.In the days when the companycame into existence there werevery few Bengali printers in thecommunity here in Britain.

Through his business he cameacross various sections of themultilingual community of Britain.His lust for community work did notend there. He is one of the ownersof the First and only English week-

ly newspaper the ‘Bangla Mirror’,which serves the community. He isthe editor-in-chief of that newspa-per.

Alhaj Dr .M A Aziz is involved withdifferent organisations. He is theChairperson of Greater NoakhaliAssociation UK, President ofRedbridge Bangladeshi BusinessForum, Joint Convenor ofBangladesh Flood PreventionInternational Committee UK, VicePresident of UK BangladeshNationalist Party, former Presidentof Leyton Islamic Centre and for-mer Treasurer of Finsbury ParkAsian Centre in London.

Dr. M A Aziz has travelled widely todifferent districts of England,Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Hehas also travelled to European ,Asian and American countriesincluding Kingdom of SaudiArabia, UAE, Qatar, Pakistan,India, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia,Turkey, France, Germany, Holland,Belgium, Luxemburg, Italy,Switzerland, UAS, Canada and

others.

Wherever he has travelled to hehas invited the Bangladeshi com-munity to exchange ideas andviews through dialogue. For assist-ing the Bangladeshi Communitywith cultural integration he wasawarded Channel-S CommunityAward 2006 and Civic Award 2007.

Among his latest establishment isa Charity Clinic in Musapur,Bangladesh at the cost of onecrore taka on 80 decimal of pur-chased land. He purchased anoth-er piece of land about 40 decimalat Basurhat Thana Sodor for othercharity work. His mission andvision is to devote himself in socialwelfare activities through out hislife.

Alhaj Dr.M A Aziz is married andblessed with five sons and twodaughters. His sons and daugh-ters are studying in differentuniversities and colleges in theUnited Kingdom.

Mr Aminul Haq BadshaPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Media (Journalism)


Khondker Aminul Haq, betterknown as Badsha is the an

Executive Member if BangladeshJournalist Association as well asthe Commonwealth JournalistAssociation UK. Born in theKushtia, Bangladesh, He complet-ed his education in Bangladeshbefore he was forced to come toEngland after the Assassination ofBangobhaundhu.

Mr Aminul Haq Badsha completedhis MA in Sociology from DhakaUniversity and graduated fromPrison. He was arrested for hisinvolvement in student politics. InEngland Mr Haq completed aMasters and a Diploma in SocialWork. During his student life,Badsha was actively involved instudent politics. He engaged him-self in different democratic strug-gles including the six point andeleven point in 1969 and 1971,which eventually led to the libera-tion struggle headed by SheikhMujibur Rahman. Badsha spenttime in various prisons.

After his release from Jessore Jail,

Badsha took admission in Law andSociology at Dhaka University in1963. During his prison life Badshacame into contact with prominentpolitical and intellectual personali-ties, such as Rones Das Gupta, OliAhad, Anwar Jahid, Amulla Lahire,Khoka Rai, Comrade Forhad,Eklah Uddin and many more.Aminul Haq Badsha believes inSocial Justice. He was organisingsecretary of the then East PakistanStudent League and GeneralSecretary of Iqbal Hall of DhakaUniversity. He actively participatedin the anti Ayub struggle.Furthermore, he was a freedomfighter in 1971.

Badsha was founder ofBangladesh Liberation RadioShadin Bangla Beter Kendro inMujib Nagar. He was also directorof External Publicity of BangladeshMission, Mujib Nagar. He wasappointed as press secretary to thefather of the nation in 1969 after hewas released from Agartala Mamla. After arriving in the UK, Badshacontinues his involvement in jour-nalism. He is the correspondent of

a number of national dailynewspapers in India, Bangladeshand England, Including ATNBangla, which is an internationalTV channel.

Mr Haq is married with two chil-dren, a son and a daughter. He iscommitted to honest journalismand stands up for what he believesin. he will be remembered for hisrole in journalism and politics. Hehas suffered at the hands of thePakistan military and was also triedabsentia in October 1971 andgiven 14 years imprisonment.

Badsha has worked for Marks andSpencer, British Civil Service,Asian Unemployment project, andalso as a Social Worker in theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets.He has written four books and twoare due to be printed, which areabout Bangobhaundhu. He hasalso acted in Ruhul Amin’s film ‘AKind of English’ and Farkul Alma’s‘Joy Bangla’ and also the famousAbdul Gaffar Choudhury’s ‘PolashiTheke Dhanmondi’. His elderbrother Raju Ahmed was a famousactor in the sub continent.

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Mr Hafiz Alam BakhshPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Media (Electronic)

Having had a thriving propertyand restaurant business, idea

of business diversification pro-pelled to make a timely move tobid for a better future investments,which was realized during thetenure of Head of Channel S Salesand Marketing Department in2005.An astute business ventureopened an avenue for a new chal-lenge: ATN Bangla UK, which hasover the year proven to be a chal-lenge worth while. This was, ofcourse, owing to previous entre-preneurial skills and experience ofdifferent nature, particularly wealthof experience achieved duringChannel S days became very use-ful to establish ATN Bangla UK asone of the most profitable andviewed satellite television through-out the UK and Europe within avery short span of time.

Sales and Marketing of ATNBangla UK is strategically dynamicand has been proven to beall-inclusive business oriented thatis keeping the organization ahead

of its competitors both in the UKand beyond. Sales and Marketingbeing an organizational mem-brane, a strong correlation hasbeen developed between theSales and Marketing Departmentand Editorials of ATN Bangla UK.This is consistent with what theviewers want to see and what theATN Bangla UK managementpromises to show.

ATN Bangla UK has evidently mada permanent imprint in the heartand mind of the viewers both frompopularity and revenue viewpoints;every indicator is suggesting thatATN Bangla UK is growing fromstrength to strength and this isattributed to diligence and determi-nation of Hafiz Alam Bakhsh, whohas set an example of accomplish-ment for other Bangladeshi peopleboth in the UK and elsewhere.

In spite of his busy schedule, he isa passionate producer and actorwith vision and glamour; despitelimitations, working without com-

promise on a professional front,earned reputation for persistenceowing to relentless stage practice,improvisation and determination topromote Bangladeshi films global-ly and is now a chiselled actor aswell as producer of distinct calibre.He has firsthand experience offreelance filmmaking, producingand acting; produced for manytelevisions and private sectormedia companies, driven byintense enthusiasm and passionfor creative work.

Hafiz Alam Bakhsh is undoubtedlyone of the youngest British-Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, whoprecipitated and maximised theBangladeshi diasporic presence inthe UK and European electronicmedia, particularly by promotingthe Bangladeshi social, culturaland economic contributionsthrough his satellite televisionchannel on BSkyB platform.

Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari MBE, FRSAPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Community Relations


Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari stud-ied both a PhD and a PGCE

teacher training course at KingsCollege, University of London. Healso has a degree in Managementfrom the Open University. He wasawarded his MBE in 2003 forneighbourhood renewal work.

Dr Bari has been an officer in theBangladesh Air Force, but trainedin Royal Air Force College, ascience teacher, a physicsresearcher and an SEN specialistin London. He is now the SecretaryGeneral of the Muslim Council ofBritain, and has held the positionsince June 2006.

He is the former President ofIslamic Forum Europe and is alsothe Chair of the East LondonMosque Trust. He is a Trustee ofMuslim Aid. He is also on theLondon Organising Committee forthe 2012 Olympic Games as a non-Executive member. Dr Bari is aman with a philanthropic nature. Heis a patron of the National YouthAgency and the Ramphal Centre.

Mr Bari is politically non-partisan,but considered to be instrumentalin encouraging people to beinvolved in political and socialactivities in the mainstream society.This might have indirectly helpedRESPECT MP George Galloway

secure his parliamentary seat forBethnal Green and Bow during thelast General Election. He did thesame for the recent mayoralelections.

Dr Bari is also a keen behaviouralspecialist, and has written anumber of books, as well asarticles in newspapers, journalsand community publications on thesubject. His books tend to spe-cialise on family and parenting, aswell as issues of identity amongstyouths. These books include thetitles ‘Building Muslim Families’, ‘AGuide to Parenting’ and ‘Race,Religion and Muslim Identity inBritain’.

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Mr Ikbal Hussain BulbulPlace of Residence: Enfield, MiddlesexSector: Literacy

Mr Ikbal Hussain Bulbul wasborn in 1972 in the village of

Mathura (Kholagram), BeaniBazar, Sylhet.

Mr Bulbul moved to the UK in1989. After he arrived in the UK, hewas studying as well as working.Later he established himself as awriter, he has been writing inknown Bengali newspapers andmagazines in the UK andBangladesh, Apart from his writinghe has also involved himself in thecatering business successfully.

Mr Bulbul mainly focused onwriting his books: ‘TumarShimanar Baire Norok, NathiheenTimir Nishi, Sukh Heen SukherSathe’, was published recently anda great review from critics hasbeen received for all of his work. Atthis moment he is working on hisnew books, which well be pub-lished very soon.

Mr Bulbul has also involved him-self with numerous social and cul-tural organisations in the UK aswell as in Bangladesh, such asBeani Bazar Jono Kollan Somity,

Beani Bazar Trust, Beani BazarLions Club, Bangladesh CaterersAssociation, Bangladesh WelfareAssociation, Shodesh SahittoGroup, as well as many others. Heis a life long member of SylhetAcademy and the chair of writers

and teachers welfare trust‘Shikkon’ and Adil Hussain Trust.

Mr Bulbul is currently living inEnfield in Middlesex with his wifeJhorna and son Adil Hussain.

The Taj BrothersPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Business


Mr Abdul Hai Khalique (Junel), Mr Abdul QuayumKhalique (Jamal) and Mr Abdul Muhith (Joynal)

are the three brothers behind the internationallyrenowned grocers Taj Stores in Brick Lane. They tookover the business from their late father Alhaj AbdulKhalique who came from Baur Bagh, Moulvibazar,Bangladesh

Abdul Hai, Abdul Quayum and Abdul Muhith all grewup in Brick Lane, East London where all of themattended the Thomas Buxton Primary School. AbdulHai Khalique and Abdul Quayum Khalique then pro-gressed to Milestone Preparatory School which is aprivate school situated in Bond Street, West London.Meanwhile their youngest brother Abdul Muhith wentto Daneford School near Bethnal Green.

Meanwhile Abdul Hai Khalique advanced to anArchitectural college where he completed his first yearbefore joining the family business. Abdul QuayumKhalique on the other hand attended the privateAmerican International College where he completed aDiploma in Business after which he too joined thebusiness. Abdul Muhith also gradually joined thefamily business after completing his education.

Besides running the very successful and extremelywell known Taj Stores, the brothers also have otherbusiness interests. The three ‘Taj’ brothers hold a veryhealthy portfolio of properties located across thecapital as well as several properties abroad, includingin Dubai. They also have a vast amount of land andproperties in Bangladesh which their family haveowned for generations. They also own a restaurant inBrick Lane called ‘Let Taj’.

Although the family have achieved an immense quan-tity of success and wealth, they remain very charitableand generous to the poor. Their involvement in chari-ty initiatives are too many to list, but these includedonating and supporting a Cancer Research Charityin honour of their late mother, and also a Charitywhich specialise in treating problems and illnessesrelated to kidneys, in honour of their late father.

Additionally the brothers have also supported the

victims of the Sidr Cyclone and have donated some17 tube wells to 17 different villages in Moulvibazar.Moreover their charitable activities have consisted offunding the development and construction of manyhouses for the poor to reside in within the vicinity oftheir village, as well as financing and building a wholeMosque, and an Islamic School, where over 300students are educated for free.

The Brothers also have a sister in this country calledRashida Rahman. They are all married with Abdul HaiKhalique having four children; one daughter and threesons. Whilst Abdul Quayum Khalique has two sonsand Abdul Muhith having two daughters. All theirchildren are in education.

Mr Abdul Hai Khalique (Junel), Mr Abdul QuayumKhalique (Jamal) and Mr Abdul Muhith (Joynal) arerecognised as successful and well respectedbusinessmen amongst the British BangladeshiCommunity, and their businesses too are wellacknowledged brands within British Bangladeshihouseholds.

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Mr Abdul Mukit ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: South Woodford, LondonSector: Catering

Mukit Choudhury BA (Hons),MA, Dhaka University is the

owner and highly regarded propri-etor of the Bengal Clipper andBengal Trader in London. Havingarrived in the United Kingdom in1988 with a Masters Degree in his-tory and an intention to embark ona legal career he turned his atten-tion to the catering profession andis now an established and suc-cessful restaurateur.He opened his first restaurantBengal Clipper in 1994 and BengalTrader in 1998. Mr Choudhury isalso very well connected with soci-ety. He is hospitable, articulate anda whole hearted person. He has donated time and moneytowards good causes in the UKand Bangladesh. Mr Choudhuryenjoys writing articles in newspa-pers. He has also obtained severalprofessional certificates from

South Bank University and theLondon Tourist Board. In 1988 hecompleted BCS and honoured apost in the Public ServiceCommission. He is a member ifBCI, BBCC, Habiganj Society and

Treasurer of Dhaka University ExJalalabad Students Society. Mukit Choudhury is married toNasima Choudhury and they havetwo sons.

Mr. Ahmed Us Samad Chowdhury JP, FISMM, FCMI, FIH

Place of Residence: Bath, South WestSector: Media, Charity, Business


One of Britain’s most respectedpersonalities of Bangladeshi

origin is Ahmed Us SamadChowdhury who came to Britain in1972 to further his education. Hewas the first Asian Origin StudentUnion President in Bristol. Inbusiness, community developmentand media Mr Chowdhury hasbeen a driving force for which he ismuch loved.

Mr Chowdhury is the Editor andPublisher of “Potrika”, Britain’spopular Bengali newspaper - pub-lished from London. MrChowdhury is also the Chairmanof Channel S Television; a Bengalilanguage broadcast media andone of the most watched ethnicchannels in Europe.

A Fellow of the Institute of SalesMarketing Management, Fellow ofthe Chartered Institute ofManagement, and Fellow of theInstitute of Hospitality MrChowdhury is the owner of theAward winning restaurant Rajpootin Bath and a number of otherrestaurants in Bath and Bristol. MrChowdhury is also in the propertybusiness and trades as “LondonProperty Partnership”. InBangladesh Mr Chowdhury is alsoa property developer (ParagonProperty Ltd.) and currently

building 500 apartments for theex-patriots in Sylhet. Also he is coowner of Kushiara Compsite KnitIndustries in Dhaka, Bangladesh.A 100% export orientated industryearning vital foreign currency forBangladesh.

In 1988 as the Head of theBangladesh Association (Bristol,Bath & West) and CommunityIntegration in mind, Mr Chowdhuryfounded the Bangladesh Women’sGroup in Bristol and then in 1990founded the Bangladesh House.This building is used as a drop incentre to get advice and informa-tion on housing, welfare etc. In1993 he founded BangladeshCentre in Bristol; this was aimed tocater for the needs of the Women’sGroup and Youth activities. In 1998Mr Chowdhury started the projectto establish South West’s only pur-pose built mosque. TodayShahjalal Jame Mosque iscomplete, costing £1million. MrChowdhury serves as the Trusteeof Bangladesh Association andShahjalal Jame Mosque Trust.

Locally Mr Chowdhury raisedfunds for the Royal United Hospitaland has helped numerousCharities. A Justice of Peace since1991, he has served as aGovernor at City of Bath College,

National Steering CommitteeMember for Hospitality TrainingFoundation to make NVQ/SVQqualifications more accessible,National Advisor New Deal (EthnicMinority Group). Mr Chowdhury isone of the Founders and RegionalPresident of Bangladesh BritishChamber of Commerce; he playeda vital part in establishing UKBangladesh Education Trust,Founder Chairman of Britain-Bangladesh Friendship Societyand is also involved with manynational and International organi-zations, with a number of them heacts as an advisor. He is also a lifemember of The CommonwealthJudges and MagistratesAssociation.

In year 2000 Mr Chowdhury wasthe driving force in establishing theImmigration Advisory Service (IAS)office in Sylhet, Bangladesh (theonly office outside Britain). MrChowdhury serves as theChairman of the IAS – SylhetAdvisory Committee.He helped found a Children’sHospital, Cyclone Shelter,Orphanage and a Hospital for theDisabled and Paralysed and manyeducational institutions inBangladesh.

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Mr. Amirul ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: London-South WoodfordSector: Telecom/Media/Property

Mr Amirul Choudhury was bornin Khashila (Boro Bari) in

Jagonnathpur. His father is MrAbdul Gafur Choudhury. He cameto the UK in 1977 with his parents.

He attended Ambler Primary andHolloway Secondary School inNorth London. He then went ontoHackney College from where heobtained a National Diploma inBusiness and Finance.

On leaving college, he joinedTower Hamlets youth service as aSchool Link Project Officer. He hadbeen involved in youth work sinceschool days. This position provid-ed him the perfect opportunity tocontinue in this line of work provid-ing guidance and support to thegrowing number of Bangladeshiyouths in the area.

He is the owner and ManagingDirector of ChytelCommunications, which is one ofthe top ten T-Mobile dealers in thecountry. He entered the telecomindustry in 1994, when T-mobile(then known as One to One)introduced mobile phones to themass market. Chytel became thefirst generation of traders givenlicence by T-mobile to trade direct-ly with the general public.Branches were opened throughoutthe UK. Mr Choudhury’s uniquesales and marketing skills helpboth Chytel and T-mobile maintaina strong retail and distributionpresence in the consumer market,in particular the Asian community.

Today Chytel is a household namein the Bangladeshi community andwith Mr Choudhury’s long-terminvolvement in the Bangladeshi

media, Chytel brand remainsamongst the top of theBangladeshi brands in Britain.

He is the Managing Director ofJanomot Bengali Newsweekly(Britain’s first Bengali newspaper)and a major shareholder.

He is also the Vice President of theLondon Bangla Press Club, anorganisation of British Bangladeshijournalists in Britain.

He has a portfolio of residentialand commercial properties.

Mr Choudhury has supportedvarious small organisations thatpromoted arts and culture and hasbeen a generous donor to all typesof charitable organisations fordecades, and has donated well inexcess of 50k in the last 14 years.

Mr. Anwar ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Civil Service (Foreign Office)


Anwar Choudhury (BSc, MBA)is Her Majesty’s High

Commissioner to Bangladesh. MrChoudhury has had a unique anddistinguished career having servedin British Industry, The Royal AirForce, The Ministry of Defenceand The Cabinet Office. He is thefirst senior British Ambassadorfrom a British Asian backgroundand also one of the youngest toachieve this level of posting.

He started his career in Industry asa Design Engineer. This was fol-lowed by the Royal Air Force andthe Ministry of Defence where hemanaged a large team of civilianscientists and senior militarypersonnel. As Assistant Director,he was responsible for developing

Ministry of Defence’s strategiesand policies aimed to bring aboutthe integration of Defence systemswithin the MOD, NATO and Allies.

Mr Choudhury then moved fromthe MOD to the Cabinet Officewhere he was Director of Policy inthe Office of the e-Envoy. He wasresponsible for leading the visionand policy for UK Government’sambition to become a leadingknowledge economy and the bestplace for e-government. He leftthe Cabinet Office to join theForeign and Commonwealth Officeand initially worked on strategyand policy issues before taking uphis posting as High Commissionerto Bangladesh in May 2004.

Mr Choudhury completed hisassignment as High Commissionerto Bangladesh in May 2008 andhas taken up his new roleas Director of InternationalInstitutions, Foreign andCommonwealth Office.

Mr Choudhury’s main interests arein policy for radical change ingovernment and the potential ofthe information revolution for thedeveloping world economies. Ona personal note, he is married withthree children (one son aged 14,and two daughters, one aged 5and one aged 1). His hobbiesinclude Cricket, Bridge and anaddiction for Bangladeshi cuisine.

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Mr Faizur Rahman Choudhury MBEPlace of Residence: BirminghamSector: Community Relations

Mr Choudhury was born in thedistrict of Habigonj in 1954.

the only son of Mr Elasur RahmanChoudhury, who served as anon-commission officer in theBritish Army, and Mrs FaizunNessa Choudhury, who was a pri-mary school teacher. By virtue ofhis father’s position in the BritishArmy, Mr Faizur Choudhury wasentitled to immigrate to the UK.

Mr Choudhury had his primary andsecondary education inBangladesh and came to the UK in1970 when he was only 16 yearsof age. He then returned toBangladesh where he completedhis intermediate course at MMCollege. On successful completionof that course Faizur RahmanChoudhury journeyed back to theUK once more. Upon arrival hestudied Business Studies atBrooklyn College Birmingham, andfinally graduated with a degree inBusiness Studies.

Mr Choudhury has always been anactive member of the communityand his participation in communityinitiatives are deep rooted in hisdesire to help those Bangladeshi’sin Britain who posses none or verylittle education. It was with this inmind he set up the BangladeshMulti- Purpose Centre,Bangladesh Council in Aston, inthe interest of serving BritishBangladeshis. He has spent manyuncounted hours setting upschools, community centres,mosques and madrasas inBirmingham for the betterment of

all.

Since the birth of the BangladeshCouncil, an umbrella organisationencompassing many other com-munity projects and organisationsin Birmingham, Mr Choudhury hadserved as secretary for twelveyears. He was also the generalSecretary of the BangladeshWelfare Association, and Chair ofthe Bangladesh Cultural Societyfor three years.

In 1988 Mr Faizur RahmanChoudhury formed the Jatiyo Partyin Birmingham, he was theSecretary General of the JatiyoParty in the West Midlands. Otherorganisations that Mr Choudhurywas involved with include, theBangladesh Caterers Association,Bangladesh Business Forum andBBEC. He was also one of thefounder members of the CoventryRoad Jamia Masjid, and a trusteemember of the management com-mittee of one of the biggestmosques run by Bangladeshis in

Birmingham at the time. FaizurRahman Choudhury is predomi-nantly involved with the restaurantand catering industry inBirmingham.

Mr Choudhury is married toRowson Choudhury. Their eldestdaughter is a graduate in HealthStudies and is working for theNHS. Their second daughter hasgraduated in Mathematics fromManchester University and is nowundertaking a Masters degree inInternational Banking. Their otherfour children are still in school, withtwo of them attending the presti-gious King Edwards Camp HillGrammar School and SwanhurstSchool.

In 1997 Faizur Choudhury wasinvited by Mother Theresa to visitCalcutta to discuss issues ofglobal poverty. A year later, HRHThe Queen conferred MrChoudhury with Member of theBritish Empire (MBE) on herbirthday.

Mr Foysol Hussain Choudhury MBEPlace of Residence: ScotlandSector: Community Relations


Foysol Hussain Choudhury MBEis well known for his famous

and prestigious Bangladeshirestaurant in the Capital ofScotland; Edinburgh called theVerandah which has in many yearspicked up numerous awards.

Mr Choudhury is one ofEdinburgh’s youngest and distin-guished entrepreneurs with alsobeing an established communityworker. Mr Choudhury is enor-mously involved in the area ofRace Relations and voluntary workwhich involves making a bigimpact on Black Minority EthnicGroups (BME) for people livingand working in Scotland.

He was awarded an MBE by theQueen in her New Years HonoursList in 2004 for his valuable contri-butions to Race Relations. Addingto his long line of famous achieve-ments Mr Choudhury is one of thefounder director of Edinburgh MelaLtd, Vice chair of Edinburgh &

Lothian Racial Equality Council,President of the Guild ofBangladeshi Restaurateurs inScotland, joint general secretary ofZukta – Razya Nabigonj EducationTrust UK, Life member ofDiamuddin Ethemkhana(Orphanage) and HafiziaMadrasha, general secretary ofthe Bangladesh Welfare CouncilScotland, Youth Secretary of theCommonwealth SocietyEdinburgh, organising Secretary ofCouncil of Bangladeshis inScotland, Organising secretary ofthe Bangladesh Awami LeagueScotland, an Executive Member ofthe Bangladesh Samity Edinburgh,a member of Lothian & BordersPolice Liaison Group, Chairman ofthe Youth Forum, one of thefounder members of the DineBangladeshi Campaign. He is thedirector of award wining Edinburghrestaurant, Britannia Spice. Mr Choudhury elected as a gener-al secretary for BangladeshSamity Edinburgh, Coordinator of

the Bangladesh Cyclone Sidrappeal in Scotland. In addition, heis also responsible for fund raisingto help local charities such as StColombo’s Hospice, Leukaemiaand Cancer appeal, Sick Kidsappeal, Heart Foundation, IndianEarthquake appeal and theTsunami Appeal.

His contributions to the communityhas not gone unnoticed when herecently has been acknowledgedby UK based Television Channel Swhich awarded him with theCommunity Award 2006.

Mr Choudhury is a keen snookerand badminton player and haswon many trophies. He is theCaptain of the local Bangladeshifootball team and is a massive fanof Heart of Midlothian FC andManchester United Football Club.

He is proud of one son and onedaughter living in Edinburgh withhis family.

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Mrs Gouri ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Artist (Singer)

Mrs. Gouri Choudhury was bornin May, 1964. Since she was

born, her great love and passionfor music was obvious. She por-trayed this enthusiasm at the ageof six, when she started to learnabout music. Since then, she hasthrived in attracting many peopleform the Bangladeshi community,to her beautiful sung Bengali folk,classical and modern songs.

Growing up in Bangladesh, Mrs.Choudhury also completed hereducation there. In 1984, shereceived her SSC and then in1985, she attended SylhetAcademy of Fine Arts and gained adiploma in Folk Songs. SylhetShilpakala Academy was whereshe studied next, and here she gota Diploma in Music as well as herHigher School Certificate. Mrs.Choudhury continued her educa-tion and went to ChittagongUniversity in 1988, where shestudied Bachelor of Arts.

After finishing her education, Mrs.Gouri Choudhury came to the UKand started to work from 1989.She was a part time Bengali MusicTeacher at Toynbee Hall, for five

years. During this time she alsoworked as a full time BengaliMusic teacher for six years, whichinvolved her organizing many per-formances at Bangladesh Centrein West London. Then from 1995to 1996 she worked as a part-timeBengali Music Teacher at Bromley-By-Bow Centre. Her career as aBengali Music Teacher did not stopthere as she had the same role invarious other schools such asAsian Music Academy in WestLondon, HermitageSupplementary School inNewham, St Paul’s WayCommunity School, MorpethSecondary School, Sarah BonnellSecondary School and NazrulCentre in Tower Hamlets. For ayear she also worked at NewhamBengali Youth Front, where shewas the youth worker for women.Today, she is also the MusicLeader of Newham YoungPerson’s Chorus and Sing up pro-gramme, which involves teachingmusic to primary schools all overLondon.

Mrs. Choudhury has also had afew voluntary jobs. For a year shewas a Women’s Development

Officer for Bangladesh WelfareAssociation where she helpeddevelop Asian women’s skills andtalents. Also, she did voluntarywork as a music teacher to manystudents in Bangladesh atKhelaghar Asar and ShilpakalaAcademy.

Such dedication to music and herwork has been well recognized.Mrs. Gouri Choudhury has wonmany Best Singer’ awards, fromBangla TV in 2004, BIMA 2004,ATN in 2005 and the communityaward for ‘Best Singer’ fromChannel S in 2006. In 2002, shealso won the ‘Best PerformanceAward’ after being asked by ZEETV to perform on their well-knownshow Antaksari. She alsoappeared on Sa-Re-Ga-Ma afamous music show broadcastedon ZEE TV. Moreover, in 1998, sheattended the Catholic LeuvenUniversity to perform especially forProfessor Muhammed Yunus. Mrs.Choudhury also used to sing with aband called Kula Shekhar in the1990’s. Additionally, in 1992, HMVreleased her first modern andBengali Folk song cassette.

Mr K M Abu Taher ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Media (Journalist)


Mr Kalam Mahmud Abu Taher Choudhury was born ina traditional Moulana family in Ita Sinkapon at

Moulvibazar district in Greater Sylhet. He is the youngestson of Hafiz Moulana Abdul Kader Choudhury Sinkaponiwho was the great Saint and Islamic Scholar ofBangladesh.

Mr Choudhury was an elected general secretary ofMoulvibazar Kashinath Alauddin High School branch ofChattra League in 1969. As a young promising studentleader he played an active role in the Liberation War ofBangladesh in 1971. Whilst in Bangladesh Mr Choudhury held the position ofGeneral secretary of Bangladesh Karigari ChhatraParishad, Sylhet district branch an organisation forpolytechnic students. He was awarded a Diploma inengineering degree from Sylhet Polytechnic College.

Mr Choudhury is well respected in the Bangladeshi com-munity for his contributions to community work, butmoreover he is well renowned for his Journalism work.As a journalist Mr Choudhury was special correspondentand staff reporter respectively for the weekly Jugaberiand Deshbatra two of the oldest Newspapers publishedfrom Sylhet. He also worked for Weekly Amod andWeekly Fasal published from Comilla and Dhaka,furthermore he led the Amra Nobin Programme onSylhet radio for a long period.

As an established journalist in the UK Mr Choudhurywas the Chief Editor and Chairman of the first ever bilin-gual weekly newspaper, Euro-Bangla, and is currently adirector. At this moment in time he is the Chief Editor ofthe weekly Bangla Post newspaper. He was a specialcorrespondent of the weekly Jonomot. Amongst hisachievements and success he has been a President ofthe Bangladesh Journalist Association UK additionally amember of National Union of Journalists in Britain andVice President of British Bangladesh Press Club. He isalso an ex-Chairperson & General Secretary of theGreater Sylhet Development and Welfare Council in UK.He is a convenor of the Bangladesh flood preventioninternational committee, vice chairman of the committeefor the Recognition of Bangla as an official Language inthe United Nation. He is a community Relations Directorof the New Air Line Air Sylhet.

Mr Choudhury is involved with many social and culturalorganisations. He is the Secretary of the Voice forJustice and President of the Renaissance SahityaMojlish UK. He is a Chairman of the Advisory board ofthe first English Newsweekly Bangla Mirror. He is also anAdvisory Editor of the Dhaka Post which is publishedfrom Dhaka.

K M Abu Taher Choudhury was a parent governor of MayFlower Primary School in Tower Hamlets; He is theparent’s governor for Stepney Green Maths andComputing College. He served as a General Secretaryof the Tower Hamlets Bilingual Parents and GovernorsCentre.

His commendable social, educational and communityactivities has attracted him with a lot of public attentionand awards. In May 2003 he was awarded the CivicAward from Tower Hamlets council for his invaluablecontribution towards the development of the community.Among his many accolades he received the distin-guished Leadership Award by American BiographicInstitute, the Community leadership award from theBlack ethnic minority community UK at the MillenniumDome. He was offered Columnist of the Year Award byGreat Britain Journalist Association UK at the House ofLords and in July 1997 Prince Charles invited him to areception at St James Palace. He has also been invitedto the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.

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Mr Mohibuddin ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: Redbridge, EssexSector: Media (Journalist)

Mr Mohibuddin Choudhurycame to the United Kingdom

with his parents at the age offourteen in 1973.

Mr Mohibuddin Choudhury openedhis first business in 1977, a restau-rant named ‘Akash’ in Maida Vale,West London. He subsequentlybecame involved with the mediaand is one of the FoundingDirectors of Notun Din. He is cur-rently the Editor of the weeklyNotun Din a Bengali languagenewspaper based in London.

Moreover, Mr Choudhury is theFounder Presidents of the London

Bangla Press Club, which wasinaugurated in 1994. This organi-sation represents most of theBangladeshi media in the UnitedKingdom. Mr Choudhury has alsobeen recently elected as Presidentof the British Bangla Chamber ofCommerce- London region.

Mohibuddin Choudhury has beeninvolved in several other communi-ty and charity organisations. He isone of the Founder Trustees ofBritish Bangla JaggannathpurEducation Trust based in the UK,which is one of the most success-ful organisations, financiallysupports and encourages poor

students in relation to advancingtheir education. Furthermore, he isone of the Founder Trustee ofKolkoli Shahjalal College, SyedpurCollege and Bibiana College inBangladesh.

Mr Choudhury is a well-known andrespected media personality andbusinessman and has supportedmany organisations working forthe greater interest of the BritishBangladeshi community.

He is married with six children allof whom reside in the family homein Redbridge.

Cllr Prince Sadik ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: NorthamptonSector: Politics


Councillor Prince SadikChoudhury is the first Liberal

Democrat British BangladeshiCouncillor in the whole ofNorthamptonshire. Cllr Choudhuryis currently completing a Lawdegree at the University ofNorthampton, and it was during hisyears of study that he first becameinterested in politics. Cllr Sadikjoined the Liberal Democrats andwas successful in winning his seatin the Borough Council elections inMay of 2007. He is presently theCouncillor for the ThorplandsWard.

Cllr Sadik has had the benefit of afull Education here in England,having completed his GCSE’s, A-levels and a HND in Business andFinance. Although his main forteremains to be politics, CllrChoudhury is also involved withproperty management; a familyrun business comprising of buying,selling and letting property.

Prince Sadik Choudhury is alsostrongly occupied with numerouscommunity activities and initia-tives. He is the ex-manager of theNorthampton Bangladeshi Footballteam. Moreover he is a trustee ofNorthamptonshire Muslim Council.He also holds many other presti-gious posts, such as being anExecutive member of NorthamptonLiberal Democrats Political Partyand trustee of Corby Mosque.

Cllr Choudhury has made variouscontributions to his local communi-ty and is deeply associated withcountless charity programmes.One of which was raising some

£5,000 for Northampton GeneralHospital, which has resulted in himbeing highly recognised by theNHS for his work. He is the firstBritish Bangladeshi individual tobe recognised by the NHS for suchwork in Northampton.

Sadik Choudhury’s excellent workin politics and for the communityled to meeting Dr Iftikhar AhmedChoudhury during his visit toBangladesh. During the visit CllrChoudhury also represented theinterests of his party by being anambassador for the LiberalDemocrats Shadow ForeignMinister Michael More MP. He tookon this role so as to foster a linkbetween Bangladesh and the UK.The visit to Bangladesh alsoenabled him to meet the BritishHigh Commissioner AnwarChoudhury, who invited Sadik andhis wife for dinner at his residence.

Cllr Prince Sadik Choudhury hasalso written several articles for the

local Chronicle & Echo newspaperas well as the NorthamptonshireBBC website, presenting his viewsand attitudes towards some veryimportant issues. His articles forthe Northamptonshire BBC stillremain in existence on thewebsite.

Sadik has been described by hisparty as vibrant, energetic andhardworking. This is evident in hisparticipation within the local com-munity, as well as through his workas a Councillor. At the present timehe is working for the Council inproviding bespoke servicesfor Muslim burials inNorthamptonshire. He is alsoworking on the future developmentof Northampton, which is scheduleto take place in 2012.

Sadik’s commitment to politics andenthusiasm has made him one ofthe recognised British Bangladeshiindividuals in Northamptonshire.

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Mr Shetu ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Arts

Mr Shetu Choudhury has been involved in performingarts for the greater part of his life. He has performedon a voluntary and professional level with the UK andhas played a key role in performing and shaping livestage Bengali drama.

Shetu completed both his secondary and higher edu-cation in Bangladesh before completing a Diploma inEnglish Language and IT here in the UK. He is cur-rently the proprietor and director of Creation Mediabased in Green Street, London.

Shetu’s repertoire of work includes being presenter ofBetar Bangla Radio, in addition to being a presenterfor Channel S and being a model. He has also playedparts in numerous short films which have been shownon Channel 4, and has appeared in several Tele filmsfor various Bengali Channels, as well as being avoice-over for the Heart Foundation, Childcare andmore.

He remains directing stage plays. Besides he is alsothe cultural secretary for the Bangladesh CricketForum UK and the Chairman for Desh Theatre. He isalso a freelance journalist. He was also a ParentGovernor of John Scurr Primary School.

Shetu’s notable achievements include the ATNBangla Media Award for the best Bengali actor in theUK 2004 alongside the best TV advert personalityaward in the UK 2006.

Shetu represents the modern day British Banglagrassroots ambassador. His unique achievement is inhis ability to combine his media work with a phenom-enal contribution to Bengali cultural development inTower Hamlets- where a large Bangladeshi populationexist.

Mr Choudhury remains dedicated and committed topromoting multi-culturalism in the UK and on a per-sonal level is an individual filled with integrity. He is afamily man with children but still finds time to helpthose people who come to him for assistance inwhatever way he can. He is a relentless communityworker.

Shetu has made more than a valid contributionthrough his arts and community work, and is one ofthe shining beacons in the British Bangladeshiperforming arts arena.

Mr Abdul Kadir ChowdhuryPlace of Residence: KentSector: Business


Mr Abdul Kadir Choudhury iswell known in the

Bangladeshi community in the UKas a successful businessman,educationalist and industrialist. MrChoudhury, eldest of three broth-ers and two sisters, was born atDori Khunjonpur of Jaggannathpurupozila in greater Sylhet in 1926.His Grandfather was Late RiachatMia Choudhury, and grandfatherwas Late Manu Mia Choudhury.About 250 years ago his ancestorLate Machai Mia Choudhury shift-ed from Baniyachang to DariKhunjonpu, Jagannathpur. Bothhis father and grandfather werewell known in the locality as busi-nessman.

In 1953 Mr. Choudhury Came toLondon and started to work in acotton mill. Then he was employedin motor industry. Later on he start-ed catering business in 1956 andalso started a restaurant namedNew Calcutta Restaurant. In 1969he again started a restaurant,

Himalaya Restaurant, in Coventryonly to sell it later on, and thenwent back to Bangladesh to starthis own business. After an unsuc-cessful attempt he returned to theUK in 1978.

After the war he started ''JhornaTanduri Resturant'' in Opington. Ashis business was thriving he alsoopened ''Rajdoot'', ''Mughal'', and''Bengal Luncer'', ''Bombay Butler''in Chiselhurst, and ''BengalClipper'' near Tower Bridge.

From a very young age Mr Kadir isworking towards the developmentof the community and the society;sometimes in an individual effortand sometimes collectively. He is aFounding Trustee member ofJagannathpur British BanglaEducation. He had also set up aschool, Abdul Kadir - MeherunNesa High School, to ensure thatthe local people have access toeducational facilities, and has

been bearing all the expenses ofthe school since then. He had alsobuilt a bridge in his father's namein Rasulpur - Kunchonpur road,and built a Building for RasulpurMadrasa.

Mr Choudhury performed Hajj in1995. He built Al Hamra ShoppingComplex with a view to encouragethe Bangladeshi community in theUK to invest in Bangladesh, and isplanning to expand his businessinto the cement industry. He is apart of The Jalalabad, a Sylhetinewspaper, and is the director ofboth Sylhet Trade Centre, and AlHamra Bangladesh Ltd.

Mr Choudhury married to MeherunNesa Choudhury. His two sonsSohail Kadir Choudhury and PavelKadir Choudhury are also estab-lished businessman in Britain.Nowadays he spends most of histime in Bangladesh while his twosons look after the businesses.

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Mr Akil ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: WorcestershireSector: Businessman

Mr Akil Choudhury was born in1951 in the village of

Kanishail, Gulapgonj, Sylhet inBangladesh. He is the son of MrIqbal Choudhury and Mrs MomanaChoudhury.

Mr Choudhury completed his edu-cation in Bangladesh, and movedto the UK in 1975. Soon after hisarrival, he opened a restaurantcalled Akash Tandoori in Redditchin Warwickshire. This restauranthas now been successfully run-ning for over 25 years, and hasallowed Mr Choudhury to moveinto other areas of business.

He has a stake in a hotel in UttaraDhaka called The Blue Bell, andhe is also one of the Directors forUnited Airlines.

Away from his business interests,Akil Choudhury is well known forhis commitment in helping hiscommunity, both in the Midlandsand in Bangladesh. He has heldnumerous charity events at hisrestaurant, including many insupport of cyclone victims in

Bangladesh. For one of theevents, he was able to attract MPJacqui Smith as a guest speaker.In addition to this, Mr Choudhury iswidely respected for being a free-dom fighter during the war to liber-ate Bangladesh in 1971.

Akil Choudhury is married to MrsSanara Choudhury, MrsChoudhury works as a team

manager for Worcestershire SocialServices. Together, Mr and MrsChoudhury have two children –one son and one daughter. Theirson, Wasif Choudhury, has a BAfrom the Chartered Institute ofMarketing, and their daughter,Rifat Choudhury, is currently in hersecond year of studying for adegree in Economics.

Mr Ghulam Ahmed ChowdhuryPlace of Residence: NorthamptonSector: Community Relations


Mr Ghulam Ahmed Chowdhurywas born in the village of

Rankle located in the district ofSylhet. He obtained his firstdegree in Business Studies fromthe University of Dhaka in 1963.He then arrived here in the UnitedKingdom in 1989, where he took aDiploma in Teaching Adults fromthe Royal Society of Arts, London.In addition he acquired variousother teaching qualifications inAdult Education from the Collegeof Further and Higher Education inNorthampton. He is certified toTeach Adults and ESOL.

After having obtained his firstdegree in Bangladesh, MrChowdhury’s first full time job wasas a sales representative for alocal chemical company called‘TIBET’. He then joined PakistanInternational Airlines PIA as check-in supervisor in Chittagong Airport.He was later reposted to KarachiAirport. In 1970 he was promotedand as a result he took a foreignposting in Heathrow Airport asDuty Officer. However by the endof 1972 due to his allegiance toBangladesh, Mr Chowdhuryresigned from his post at PIA andinstead joined Biman BangladeshAirlines where he served as DutyOfficer at Heathrow airport until1980.

During the early 1980’s Mr GhulamChowdhury was a controlling part-ner in a successful Bangladeshirestaurant in London. Laterbetween 1985 and 1986Northampton Council forCommunity Relations as their co-ordinator employed him. In 1986the LEA as Guidance Workeremployed him and then in 1992 hemoved onto work as a CommunityLiaison Officer for NorthamptonCollege. The college subsequentlymade him a BusinessDevelopment Officer, this was hislast job and Mr Ghulam AhmedChowdhury took retirement in2006.

Mr Chowdhury is also involvedwith several community organisa-tions. He was a volunteer of the AlJamatul Muslimeen ofBangladesh; he later becameChairman of the Education Subcommittee. In 1987 he was elect-ed as Chairman of the communityand continued this service forsome six years. He has also beenschool governor of St GeorgesMiddle School, as well asExecutive Member of the GharanaHousing based at Wellingborough.He was Trustee of local ‘DostioWomen’s Group’ from 1995 to1999. In Addition Ghulam Ahmed

was the first Asian IndependentMember of the NorthamptonPolice Authority and was laterappointed as an IndependentAdvisor to the IndependentAdvisory Group. He is also thefounding member of all the FaithsGroup set up after the September11th incident in the USA.

Mr Ghulam Ahmed Chowdhury ismarried with three children. Hiswife is a part time BengaliLanguage Tutor at the local sup-plementary school. His eldest sonMizan is married and has a BScHonours in Business andEngineering as well as a MSc inComputing. He currently works forComputer Science Corporation asa Business Architect Consultant onthe NHS IT programme. MrChowdhury’s eldest daughter isalso married and has a BScHonours and later completed herPGCE in teaching. She is current-ly the Deputy Head-teacher of aLondon Primary School. Mr andMrs Chowdhury’s youngest daugh-ter is studying Law at theUniversity of Northampton.

Mr Chowdhury having retired nowtakes pleasure in gardening,voluntary work and practicing hisfaith.

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Mr Gulap Miah ChoudhuryPlace of Residence: Bangor, North WalesSector: Catering

Mr Gulap Miah Choudhury isthe current joint treasurer of

Bangor Bangladeshi welfare asso-ciation. The successful restaura-teur moved to North Wales in 1981to open his first establishment.Born in Derai, Sunamgonj inBangladesh to a very well knownand respected family in the region,Mr Choudhury completed his jun-ior and high school educationthere before moving to the UK in1975.

Mr Choudhury similar to manymigrants coming into the UK set-tled in London where there was analready established vibrantBangladeshi community. After fiveyears working in the cities cateringindustry, Mr Choudhury decided tomove to North Wales and live therural life-style as well as open hisfirst restaurant called the RoyalTandoori. For the last twenty sevenyears the restaurant based in thestudent town of Bangor has beenextremely successful. On numer-ous occasions the establishmenthas been recommended in localand national publications.

The proud restaurant owner who isalso a member of the GreaterSylhet Development Council aimsto link his business skills toBangladesh. With that purpose inmind, Mr Choudhury has bought a32-acre of farming land in his local-ity in Bangladesh and plans to cre-ate employment opportunities forthe local unemployed people. Healso generously donated regularly

to numerous causes inBangladesh and uses his businessto host charity nights to raisemoney for victims of naturaldisasters.

Married with two sons and twodaughters, Mr Choudhury praysAllah (SAW) to keep them on theright path.

Mr. Maruf Ahmed ChowdhuryPlace of Residence: Clayhall, RedbridgeSector: Business Advisor


Mr Maruf Ahmed Chowdhurywas born and brought up and

educated in Bangladesh. Heattended Government High Schoolin Sylhet where he obtained aSecondary School Certificate,going on to M.C College where hegained his HSC. Mr. Chowdhurylater went to Dhaka Universityachieving a Bachelor ofCommerce with Honours from theyears 1979 to 1982, a Master ofCommerce the following year anda Bachelor of Law (LLB) in 1984.

On finishing his formal educationMr. Chowdhury started full timeemployment. His first job initiallyon a part time basis commenced inJune 1980, whilst he was stillstudying and this was with the fam-ily business M AhmedConstruction Ltd his directorshipcontinued until April 1986. Onleaving university he also was apartner of E H Enterprise and aproprietor of an import/export firmcalled Maruf Enterprise. Mr.Chowdhury decided that it wastime broaden his horizons andtravel abroad and he leftBangladesh and initially travelledto America where he resided fromJune 1986 to April 1987. Whilstundertaking a post graduatecourse, to supplement his income,

he worked part time as an assis-tant manager of a McDonald’srestaurant in California. In Maythat year, Mr. Chowdhury moved tothe UK, where he had family con-nections being first employed asthe manager of the Indian OceanRestaurant in Holloway Road,London; a year later he became apartner of Enfield TandooriRestaurant. In 1990 Mr.Chowdhury obtained the neces-sary qualifications to become aFinancial Consultant for AmericanLife Insurance Company. A fewyears later he moved on toLaurentian Life Plc, in TootingBroadway, as a Senior FinancialConsultant. Mr. Chowdhury cur-rently holds the position of SeniorLoans Counsellor for the EastLondon Small Business Centre, inEast London; where he has spe-cial responsibilities for manage-ment of the Muslim Loan Fund andacts as a specialist to the cateringsector. Obviously Mr. Chowdhuryhas been through a lot of hardwork and devotion to get where heis today. Having had severalcareers in different industries andvarious roles to play throughoutthe years, processing and sharinga repertoire of the range of differ-ent skills needed to succeed.

Besides his tough working life, Mr.Chowdhury has been activelyinvolved with voluntary work. He iscurrently the Honorary PresidiumMember of Beanibazar WelfareTrust, Beanibazar JonokollanSomittee and Beanibazar PouroUnnoyon Songstha in the UK.Moreover, he is the OrganisingSecretary of UK Awami League,the General Secretary ofBangladesh Cricket Association inthe UK as well being the HonoraryJoint Secretary for Central SahidMinar Committee, UK. On top ofall of that Mr. Chowdhury is theVice President of Majlish HomeCare Services , Vice Chair of SirWilliam Beveridge Foundation,Vice president of Dhaka UniversityJalaladab Ex-students Union all inthe UK.

Mr. Chowdhury is now happilymarried to Mrs. SamanthaChowdhury, who is a SeniorBusiness Development Managerfor NatWest Bank. (RBS Group);together they have 2 children withwhom they live. Their eldest childis their daughter Nishat who is 17and studying her A Levels andyoungest their son Rafat who is 14studying for his GCSEs.

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Mr. Matiar Rahman ChowdhuryPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Media (journalist)


Matiar Rahman Chowdhury, a journalist and aresearcher, was born in Sylhet. His permanent

address is: Village- Noorgaon (Puradia) Upazila–Nabiganj, District- Hobiganj. He is widely known asMatiar Chowdhury. Mr. Matiar completed his primaryeducation in the Maktab of his village. He studied MA inIslamic History at the Universatity of Rajshahi followingthe completion of SSC and HSC from Sylhet Model HighSchool and ModonMohon College respectively.

Matiar Chowdhury has been engaged with journalismsince 1980s. He started his career in journalism as a cor-respondent of Jugoveri.Since then, he worked with various newspapers, maga-zines and periodicals both in Bangladesh and the UK. Atthis moment, Mr. Matiar is working as the UK correspon-dent of NNB, a news agency of Bangladesh.

Mr. Matiar Chowdhury regularly writes columns and arti-cles for the newspapers of the UK, America, India andBangladesh. Sylheti Bibir Kissa, Sagar ParerRojnamcha, Gorib Ullar Rojnamcha, Engo-Bonge SylhetiBoyan, Samprotik Bangladesh and Itihaas Kotha Koi aresome of his popular columns.

Matiar Chowdhury is the pioneer of developing theSylheti language in the UK. He has a good contributionin inventing the Sylheti Nagri font for computer.

Matiar Chowdhury is an eminent translator. He estab-lished Sylheti Research and Translation Centre in theUK. More than fifty Sylheti puthi were translated by him.He presented his findings on Sylheti language in severalseminars in Bangladesh, India, France, Germany, UnitedStates, Sweden, Switzerland and in the Middle East. Hetranslated the scripts of films i.e. Jesus, Renson andBedel from English to Sylheti Language.

A United States based Organisation ‘Interact’ awardedMr. Matiar in 1997 for his outstanding contributions intranslation. In 2002, he was honoured as ‘Sylhet Ratna’by Oldham Bangladeshi Cultural Group and RajnagarYouth Welfare Society, UK for his research in Sylheti lan-guage and literature. He was awarded with ‘Syed SultanAward’ in 2002 by Mahakabi Syed Sultan Sahitya OGobeshana Parishad.

Books of Mr. Matiar Chowdhury that have already beenpublished are Nabiganjer Itikatha (1985), NoupotheNabik (1983), Kushiarar Baake (1981), Sylhet Bichitra(1990), Sylhet Guide(1989), Sylhet O SylhetiBhasha(1999), Sylheti Bhasha Shikshar Boi (1998-2000), Ten Sylheti Poem (1998-Translated), YuktorajyeSylhetbashi (Yet to be published)

References from the books of Matiar Chowdhury havebeen mentioned in more then fifty books of BanglaAcademy, Islamic Foundation and other publishing com-panies.

Mr. Chowdhury is closely engaged with Social activities.He used to be the Publicity and Publication Secretary ofYuktorajya Gonodabi Parishad (1995-1997). He isengaged with Greater Sylhet Development and WelfareCouncil, Habiganj Association, founder chairman ofSylhet Academy UK and Europe, Founder Trustee andvice president of Nabiganj Education Trust, JointConvenor of Inatganj Thana Bastabayan Committee andSarba Europeo Bangabandhu Parishad. He is also a lifemember of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society andMuslim Sahitya Sangsad, Sylhet.

Mr. Matiar Chowdhury is married to Junia Begum withfour sons. His sons are Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury,Mahfuzur Rahman Chowdhury, Mazidur RahmanChowdhury and Monzur Rahman Chowdhury. He isliving in London with his family.

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Mr Matiur Rahman ChowdhuryPlace of Residence: LondonSector: Media (Journalist)

Mr Matiur Rahman Chowdhuryis an executive member of the

London Bangla Press Club. TheNews Editor for Euro BanglaNewspaper has quickly estab-lished himself as a valuable mem-ber of the since arriving fromBangladesh. Born in Kulaura,Moulvibazar district ofBangladesh, Mr Chowdhury com-pleted his education inBangladesh before moving to theUK.

Mr Chowdhury attended the localhigh school in Kulaura,Moulvibazar where he completedhis S.S.C examinations andprogressed on to Moulvibazar’sKomolgonj College to complete hisH.S.C studies. The Euro BanglaNews Editor completed both hisBSS and MSS in Political Science

from Jogonnath University.

After completing his masters, MrChowdhury joined BRAC’sresearch evaluation departmentand was based at the organisa-tions head office in Mohakali-Dhaka. Later he was employed asa Regional Sales Manager for theMeghna Group and predominatelybased in Sylhet, Dhaka andChittagong. Mr Chowdhury was alecturer of Political Science atMoulvibazar’s Bhatera College inKulaura before moving to the UK.

Once in the UK, Mr Chowdhurycontinued working in the marketingindustry and was recruited by theEuro Bangla Newspaper to helpimprove their sales and soonworked his way up through consis-tently working hard and learning

new skills to the position of NewsEditor. In addition to his full timerole in print media, Mr Chowdhuryis engaged in various non-profitsocial welfare organisations. Hewas the founder Secretary ofUdoyachol Jonokollan Songstaproject in Kulaura, Moulzibazar,Bangladesh, as well as a JointSecretary of Kulaura ChatroKollyan Songsta in Dhaka. MrChowdhury was also a member ofDhaka’s Jalalabad Association.

Mr Chowdhury has two brothersand five sisters and is married withone son. For the foreseeablefuture, the Euro Bangla NewsEditor wants to continue helpingthe poor as well as developingmore educational projects inBangladesh.


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Mr Mutahear ChowdhuryPlace of Residence: NottinghamshireSector: Catering and Community Relations

Mr. Mutahear Chowdhury waseducated in Bangladesh,

where he was born. In 1960, hefinished his GCSE’s in NabigonjJK High School in Hobigonj,Sylhet. He then went ontocomplete his A Levels in HobigonjBindaban College in the year1980.

Soon after, Mr. Chowdhury beganto work. From 1981 to 1986, hewas the proprietor of Diana Hotel &Restaurant based in Nabigonj, inBangladesh and since then he hasowned many businesses through-out the years. He then moved tothe UK where he became theProprietor for Kirkby Tandoori inNottinghamshire, for three years. Ayear later he was the owner ofEuroasia Fish and Chips alsolocated in Nottinghamshire, whichhe managed from 1994 to 1998.Tara Indian Restaurant was thenext restaurant he started tomanage, which was also based inNottinghamshire. Then in 2006, hebecame the proprietor for ChandIndian Cuisine, which is situated inDenia, in Spain. Another branch ofChand Indian Cuisine was openedin Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, inthe year 2003, which is Mr.Chowdhury’s main businessinvolvement today.

At present, Mr. Chowdhury is alsothe Chairman for Mansfield -Ashfield Bangladeshi Association(MABA), a charity based organiza-tion in Nottinghamshire. Here, he

has dealt with many issues suchas social problems, welfare rights,benefits and developing linksbetween ethnic minority communi-ties and agencies providingeducation and social events.

In the future, Mr. MutahearChowdhury desires to pursue acareer in the Health and CateringBusiness along with themulticultural community services.He hopes to offer food of anexceptional quality and continuethe high standard of health andsafety.In addition to that, he also wishes

to supply training courses forschools and generally, in IndianCuisine. On top of that he hopes tocontribute towards bettering thecommunication and relationsamongst the local communities.

Mr. Mutahear Chowdhury liveswith his wife and two sons, withwhom he enjoys spending timeregularly as he realizes theimportance of living a well-bal-anced lifestyle between work,family and friends. In his sparetime he enjoys carrying outsporting activities, reading autobio-graphical literature and gardening.

Mr Nasim Ahmed ChowdhuryPlace of Residence: KentSector: Business


Mr Nasim Ahmed Chowdhurygraduated from the National

University of Bangladesh. Sincegraduating he has acquired vastexperience and knowledge of thebusiness world.

Before moving to the UK, MrChowdhury worked as a contractorfor the Bangladesh Roads andHighways, the Bangladesh WaterDevelopment Board and FacilitiesDepartment.

In 1999, Mr Chowdhury leftBangladesh and moved toEngland. In his first few years inthe country, he worked as aHorticultural Assistant forBirmingham City Council, a SalesManager for the utilities companyN.Power and as a LicensingOfficer for BBC Television.

Mr Chowdhury then decided to gointo business for himself. He set uphis own business in London calledApex Printing & Publishing Ltd.This business was a great successand he was able to build up astrong customer base throughoutthe UK. In 2003, he opened amoney transfer and travel compa-ny.

Mr Chowdhury was one of the keypeople who first encouraged manyof the NRB’s to invest inBangladesh. As a result, he runs asuccessful real estate company inBangladesh called Royal City.

Currently, Mr Chowdhury is heavi-ly involved in a scheme to build amajor power plant in Bangladesh.Barakatullah Electro Dynamics Ltd(BEDL), the company that is run-ning the project, is a joint venture

between Bangladesh andThailand, and is designed to helpalleviate both the power shortageand the lack of employment oppor-tunities that exists in Bangladesh.As one of the founder of BEDL, it isMr Chowdhury’s responsibility tointerest as many investors as pos-sible in the UK.

Away from his business life, MrNasim Ahmed Chowdhury isinvolved in several community andsocial organisations. He is alifetime member of the BangladeshRed Crescent Society,and regular-ly makes appearances on liveTelevision Debates across varioustelevision channels in London.

His aim for the future is to encour-age further investment inBangladesh in a bid to help thecountry’s economy.

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