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Anwar Choudhury | |
---|---|
![]() Official Portrait, 2017 | |
Governor of the Cayman Islands | |
In office 26 March 2018 –20 September 2018 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | Helen Kilpatrick |
Succeeded by | Martyn Roper |
British Ambassador to Peru | |
In office 2014–2018 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | David Cameron Theresa May |
Preceded by | James Dauris |
Succeeded by | Kate Harrisson |
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh | |
In office 2004–2008 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Tony Blair Gordon Brown |
Preceded by | David Carter |
Succeeded by | Stephen Evans |
Personal details | |
Born | Anwar Bakht Choudhury 15 June 1959 Jagannathpur,Sylhet,East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) |
Nationality | British |
Spouse | Momina Choudhury |
Children | 4 |
Residence(s) | Aylesbury,Buckinghamshire,England |
Alma mater | University of Salford Durham University |
Profession | Diplomat |
Anwar Bakht Choudhury (Bengali :আনোয়ারবখতচৌধুরী;born 15 June 1959) is a trailblazing British diplomat [1] of Bangladeshi origin. Through his career,he has served as Governor of the Cayman Islands,British Ambassador to Peru,Director of International Institutions at the Foreign &Commonwealth Office and British High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Choudhury has spent much of his life working intimately with the British Bangladeshi community,cementing himself as a respected figure through his many public appearances and charitable work.
Choudhury was born on 15 June 1959,to a Bengali Muslim family in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). His family is originally from the village of Prabhakarpur,Patli Union,Jagannathpur,[ citation needed ] Sunamganj,and moved to the United Kingdom when he was young. [2]
Choudhury followed an unusual route into the Diplomatic Service;in 1985,he attained a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Salford. He worked at Siemens Plessey,before entering the Civil Service as an engineering strategist with the Royal Air Force. In 1995,he graduated with a Master of Business Administration from Durham University. [3]
Choudhury was promoted through the Ministry of Defence until 2000,when he was recruited by the Cabinet Office,before being headhunted for the position of High Commissioner to Bangladesh. [4] He was succeeded in 2008 by Stephen Evans. When he was appointed as High Commissioner to Bangladesh in 2004,he became one of the first two British ambassadors from ethnic minority backgrounds to be appointed in modern times (the other being Alp Mehmet,who was appointed Ambassador to Iceland). [5] He was sworn in as Governor of the Cayman Islands on 26 March 2018. [6]
On 21 May 2004,Choudhury was targeted in a failed grenade attack,in which he was wounded and two bystanders were killed. The attempted assassination came as he was leaving the Dargah-e-Shah Jalal mosque in Sylhet Division,his home province,following Jumu'ah (Friday prayers). [7] In December 2008,three attackers were sentenced to death [8] and two others to life in prison for the attack. [9] [10]
Choudhury was recalled to London in June 2018 after unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct. [11] [12] [13] On 20 September 2018 it was announced that he would not be returning to the Cayman Islands [14] despite no criminal actions being found to have been committed Choudhury, [15] widespread popularity,and petitions to reinstate him being circulated by local government officials. [16]
Choudhury is a Muslim. [9] His main interests include folk music of Bengal (baul). He is also passionate about community integration and protection of the UK abroad. He is married to Momina Choudhury and has three daughters. He also has a son from his first marriage. He has three brothers. His hobbies include playing cricket and bridge. He has interest in Bangladeshi cuisine too. [2]
Choudhury has dismissed suggestions of a conflict of loyalty,stating that he would support the English cricket team against the one in Bangladesh. [4]
The CaymanIslands is a self-governing British Overseas Territory,and the largest by population. The 264-square-kilometre (102-square-mile) territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman,Cayman Brac and Little Cayman,which are located south of Cuba and north-east of Honduras,between Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The capital city is George Town on Grand Cayman,which is the most populous of the three islands.
The governor of the Cayman Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the Cayman Islands. The governor,a civil servant who has in modern times typically been a British subject normally resident in the United Kingdom,is appointed by the monarch from the staff of the Foreign,Commonwealth and Development Office on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the de facto head of state,and is responsible for appointing the premier,who is the leader of the party with a majority of seats in the Legislature.
Sunamganj,is a district located in north-eastern Bangladesh in the Sylhet Division.
Jagannathpur (Bengali:জগন্নাথপুর,is an upazila located in the northeast of the district of Sunamganj and in the middle of the division of Sylhet,Bangladesh. It is bordered by Chhatak and Dakshin Sunamganj to the north,Bishwanath and Osmani Nagar to the east,Derai to the west,and Nabiganj to the south.
Humayun Rasheed Choudhury was a Bangladeshi career diplomat and Speaker of the Bangladesh National Parliament from 1996 to 2001. He was elected president of the 41st session of the UN General Assembly in 1986. He was awarded Independence Day Award in 2018 posthumously by the Government of Bangladesh.
Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran was a Bangladeshi politician and the first mayor of Sylhet City,a role he was elected to twice. In 2013,he lost to Ariful Haque Choudhury by nearly 3,000 votes. He was also a member on the standing committee of Awami League. He died on 15 June 2020,from COVID-19 at the age of 69.
British Bangladeshis are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom,through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term can also refer to their descendants. Bengali Muslims have prominently been migrating to the UK since World War II. Migration reached its peak during the 1970s,with most originating from the Sylhet Division. The largest concentration live in east London boroughs,such as Tower Hamlets. This large diaspora in London leads people in Sylhet to refer to British Bangladeshis as Londoni.
Shah Abu Muhammad Shamsul Kibria,known as SAMS Kibria or Shams Kibria, was a Bangladeshi economist,diplomat and politician.
The 21 August 2004 Dhaka grenade attack took place at an anti-terrorism rally organised by Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August 2004. The attack left 24 dead and more than 500 injured. The attack was carried out at 5:22 pm after Sheikh Hasina,the leader of opposition had finished addressing a crowd of 20,000 people from the back of a truck. Hasina also sustained some injuries in the attack. The involvement of BNP-Jamaat led government is still debated.
LGBTQ+ rights in the Cayman Islands are regarded as some of the most progressive in the Caribbean. While the British territory still has a long way to go,it continues to relax its stance on this subject. Both male and female types of same-sex sexual activity are legal in the Cayman Islands. Same-sex unions became legal in 2020.
Alper Mehmet is a British former diplomat and one of the United Kingdom's first two ethnic minority ambassadors,along with Anwar Choudhury.
Chowdhury also:Choudhuri,Chaudhuri,Choudhury,Chaudhri,Chaudhary is a title of honour,usually hereditary,originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule,it was a title awarded to eminent people,while during British rule,the term was associated with zamindars and social leaders. The common female equivalent was Chowdhurani.
2004 Shah Jalal bombing was a terrorist grenade attack on the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh,Anwar Choudhury. The High Commissioner was injured in the attack and two bystanders were killed. The attack was carried out by Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami.
Sir Akhlaq Ur-Rahman Choudhury is a British High Court judge of England and Wales. In 2017,he was made Knight Bachelor on appointment,becoming the first British-Bangladeshi and Muslim to be appointed to the High Court of Justice.
Ariful Haque Choudhury is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician and the former mayor of Sylhet. Choudhury is also an executive member of Bangladesh Nationalist Party. In 2003,he was elected as commissioner of Sylhet City Corporation. He become Mayor for consecutive 2 terms since 2013.
Same-sex marriage is currently not recognised in the Cayman Islands. The island's statutory law limits marriage to different-sex couples. A lawsuit with the Grand Court successfully challenged this ban in March 2019;however,the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling in November 2019. Same-sex civil partnerships are legal following the enactment of the Civil Partnership Law,2020 on 4 September 2020.
Patli Union Parishad is a union parishad under Jagannathpur Upazila of Sunamganj District in the division of Sylhet,Bangladesh. It has an area of 32.52 square kilometres and a population of 21,383.
Alison Mary Blake,is a British diplomat who is currently serving as Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. She previously served as High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Ambassador to Afghanistan.