TOI correspondent from London: UK PM Keir Starmer is under pressure to sack Labour minister Tulip Siddiq, deposed Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina’s niece, after interim leader Muhammad Yunus condemned the use of properties allegedly gifted to her and her family in London by allies of the former regime.
Siddiq is economic secretary to the treasury and her role involves tackling corruption in UK financial markets.
Yunus told TheSunday Times he wanted the properties investigated by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), asserting that the assets bought by allies of Hasina’s Awami League should be returned to Bangladesh. “That’s the intention of the interim govt. How to bring them back,” Yunus told the paper.
Siddiq (42) referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards last Monday after media reports revealed that some London properties she lived in had been gifted by Awami League. “I have done nothing wrong,” she said in a letter to the authority.
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch on Sunday called for PM Starmer to sack Siddiq. “He appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is herself accused of corruption,” Badenoch said. Starmer had said last week he had confidence in Siddiq.
Yunus said it was an “irony” that Siddiq had been accused of corruption. “She becomes minister for anti-corruption and defends herself (over the properties)” he told the paper.
The Sunday Times revealed that an offshore company linked to two Bangladeshi businessmen had in 2005 gifted a Hampstead flat to Moin Ghani, a barrister who represented Hasina’s govt. Ghani gifted it to Siddiq’s sister Azmina in 2009 and Siddiq lived in it.
Siddiq also owns a flat in King’s Cross which was given to her in 2004 by Abdul Motalif, who has connections to the Awami League. She rents this out and she continues to live in a £2.1-million (Rs 22cr) house rented from Abdul Karim Nazim, an executive member of UK Awami League. After Siddiq moved into his house, Hasina’s govt granted him VIP status.
Siddiq’s mother Rehana was living in a £1.4 (Rs 15 crore) million London house owned by the family of Salman F Rahman, a wealthy Bangladesh tycoon who became a minister in Hasina’s govt.
Yunus also referred to a report that found the elite had taken billions of pounds a year out of Bangladesh. “They pointed out how money is stolen, but it’s not stealing — when you steal, you hide it. It’s a robbery,” Yunus told the paper. Asked whether that applied to these properties, Yunus said: “Absolutely, it’s about plain robbery.”
Mahfuz Alam, a student activist in Dhaka, alleged that giving property to members of the Hasina family overseas was “a co-ordinated process conducted for 15 years”. “They were plundering and assisting people who vouched for her (Hasina) and her politics,” Alam said.
