who_ who_2011.pdf

British BangladeshiWho’sWho 2011 1

Published in the United Kingdom byBangla Mirror GroupUnit 2, 60 Hanbury StreetLondon E1 5JLTel: 020 7377 8966Email: [email protected]

FIRST PRINT OCTOBER 2011

EDITOR IN CHIEFMOHAMMED ABDUL KARIM

EDITORSHAHADOTH KARIMBARRISTER AT LAW

ASSOCIATE EDITORMASHUK AHMED KHAN

M.Phil., M.A., B.A.(Hons), PG DIP.(HRM), AD. DIP. (Mgt.), MCIPD

DESIGN AND PRODUCTIONIMPRESS MEDIA UK

CONTRIBUTORSANAWAR BABUL MIAH, BARRISTER AT LAW

MATIAR CHOWDHURY

SHAMAYITA CHAKRABORTY

MOHAMMED JUBAIR

MIZANUR RAHMAN

SHEIK TUAHID

KOYES UDDIN

MOHAMMED ALI

RAHMIN KARIM

SADIK KARIM

SHABAB KARIM

© Bangla Mirror Group 2011/12

S PONS ORS HIP OPPORTUNITIES

who' who 2011 WEBSITE page:Layout 1 31/10/11 18:09 Page 1

2 British BangladeshiWho’sWho 2011





British Bangladeshis make a huge contribution to life across Britain as they have donefor nearly 100 years.

We see their impact in the economy, the legal system, our media and now ourParliament.

It is important this contribution is recognised which is why I welcome BritishBangladeshi Who's Who 2011. I congratulate all of those who appear in it and makesuch an important contribution to our nation.

STATEMENT FROM RT HON ED MILIBAND MP(LEADER OF OPPOSITION)



STATEMENT FROM THE LONDONMAYOR:

This publication is a fantastic way of highlighting the vast and wide-ranging

achievements of Bangladeshi communities in London and the UK. I am

pleased to see somany Bangladeshismaking their mark in every sphere of en-

deavour and getting the recognitionwhich they so richly deserve. In business,

the arts, media, literature, and financial services, to name a few, Bangladeshis

are making a vital contribution to the capital’s economy and society.

There's a big community spirit amongst Bangladeshis in London and I'd

like to see even more people giving something back by getting involved

in Team London, my ambitious vision to get Londoners volunteering to

help tackle some of the city’s social issues. Whether you are interested in

reading to a child, making your local park safer, or looking out for an eld-

erly person in your area, the key thing is to get involved. With less than a

year to go to the London 2012 Games, there are lots of opportunities to

volunteer during the Olympics and really make these the best Games the

world has ever seen!

I wish Abdul Karim and his team the best of luck with this year’s event and

hope the publication goes from strength to strength in future years.

Boris Johnson

Mayor of London



Message from the High Commissioner

I amhappy to know that theBanglaMirror is going topublish its Bfth editionof BritishBangladeshiWho’sWho.

The contributions of expatriate Bangladeshis to politics, business, art and cultural,education, andother professions are something tobeproudof.Weall appreciate theirsacriBce, determination and striving for the remarakable success. There is no doubtthat the success of Bangladeshi communities in the UK would further enhance ourimage and reputation to the global communities. The determination and endless ef-forts tomake the noteworthy achievementswould eventually drive the younggener-ation tomove step further in theway of success.We, all Bangladeshis, are proud to bea part of the success stories.

The recognition of the achivements of our communities living in theUnited Kingdomis indeeda commendable initiative.TheBangladeshis living inhomeandabroad couldknow about the achievements and accomplishments through the publicaion, andwould also encourage them to do the same for them and for the country as well. Igladly recognize thebrillant endeavours of theBanglaMirror and look forward to see-ing their full co-operation andengagement inbuilding aCourishingBangladeshi com-munity in the UK.

I wish the Bangladesh Mirror’s endeavour would meet with notable success in thecoming years.



Foreword from the Editor in Chief

Now in its fourth year, we sincerely hope that our readers can appreciate the progressthat has been made. British Bangladeshi Who’s Who has become the definitive guideas to the ‘movers and shakers’ of the Bangladeshi community in Britain.

The gems we have unearthed in the form of ‘unsung heroes’ I believe signifies thetrue value of a publication of this nature: the ability to unearth those from our com-munity who make a real contribution to Britain.

I hope that you find this year’s edition as exciting to read as previous editions.

Abdul Karim (Goni)



Foreword from the Editor

This publication in my view has gone from strength to strength. What started off asa project between a father and his son has mushroomed into what I believe to bean authoritative guide as to exactly Who’s Who in the Bangladeshi community herein Britain.

The publication also highlights the contribution made by our community at a timewhen the integration and value of minority and ethnic communities are comingunder constant challenge by the media and other sections of the community.

I do sincerely hope that you find this year’s publication an interesting read.

Shahadoth Karim




Abbas Helal Uddin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Ahad Abdul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Ahmad Syed Neaz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Ahmed Ali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Ahmed Ayesha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Ahmed Bashir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Ahmed Cllr A M Ohid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Ahmed Cllr Mehfuz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Ahmed Cllr Rofique Uddin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Ahmed Doros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Ahmed Gulam Mortuza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Ahmed Mesba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Ahmed Mohammed Belal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Ahmed Mosleh Uddin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Ahmed Monir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Ahmed Muquim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Ahmed Parvez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Ahmed Shafi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Ahmed Shofi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Ahmed Syed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Ahmed Syed Ashfaque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Alam Meah Monirul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Ali Alhaz Sukur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Ali Cllr Junab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Ali Cllr Nasim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Ali Cllr Shahed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Ali Kamru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Ali Maya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Ali Mohammed Monchab Jp Riphh . . . . . . . . . . . .26Ali Mubarak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Ali Ragib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Ali Rois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Ali Rushanara MP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Ali Siraj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Ali Shukur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Azmal Ali Dr Mir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Azad Shamim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Azhar Ali M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Alom Shumon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Azad Abul Kalam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Badsha Aminul Haq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Bakhsh Hafiz Alam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Badar Shahin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Begum Cllr Lutfa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Bari Dr Muhammed Abdul Mbe Frsa . . . . . . . . . . .35Brothers Taj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Choudhury Abdul Gaffar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Choudhury Abdul Kadir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37Choudhury Akhlaq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37Choudhury Amirul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Choudhury Anwar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Choudhury Atique Islam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39Choudhury Capt. Tasbirul Ahmed . . . . . . . . . . . . .39Choudhury Cllr Mizarur Rahman . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Choudhury Cllr Prince Sadik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Choudhury Cllr Salim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41Choudhury Dr Sanawar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41Choudhury K M Abu Taher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Choudhury Enam-Ul Haque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Choudhury Mohibuddind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Choudhury Aziz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Chowdhury Ahmed Us Samad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44Chowdhury China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44Choudhury Shofique Rahman Mp . . . . . . . . . . . .45Choudhury Shetu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Chowdhury Cllr Ayesha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Chowdhury Mamun Rashid Mbe . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Chowdhury Matiar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Chowdhury Matiur Rahman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Chowdhury Rana Miah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48Chowdhury Shamim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48Chowdhury Tareq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49Faruk Gulam Mostafa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49Faruk Shahagir Bakth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Ghazi A T M W Saad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Haque Abdul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Haque Cllr Ahmadul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Haque Cllr Shafiqul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52Harid Cllr M A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52Haque Syed Samadul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53Hayder Rafique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54Hassan Parveen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54Hoque Atiqul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Hoque Rafiqul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Hossain Ajmalul Qc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Hossain Mozammel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Husain Dr. Hasanat M. Mbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Hossain Syed Moazzam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Husain Shahida Hasanat Ma Frsa . . . . . . . . . . . . .58Hussain Dr Babul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58Hussain Muhammad Kamal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Hussain Shelim Mbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Hussain Mahbub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Hussain Sheikh Md Ishtiaque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Hussain Md. Moftil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61Islam Mujib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61Islam Ifty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62Islam Syed Nurul (Dulu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62Jahan Mohammed Shah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63Jahedi Mohammed Abdul Munim . . . . . . . . . . . .63Jalal Rajonuddin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64Jamal Misbahul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64Jeetu Sheikh Nurul Islam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65Kabir Mahmuda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65Kabir Sandra M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66Kalam Muhammed Abul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66Khan Azom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67Khan Br M A M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Khan Cllr Rabina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68Khan Cllr Rania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Names are listed in alphabetical order by surname



Khan Dr Shafi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69Khan Helal Uddin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69Khan Hussain Ahmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70Khan Islam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70Khan Mashuk Ahmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71Khan M A Mannan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71Khan Md Shamsuddin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72Khan Oli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72Khan Tasmin Lucia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Khan Zakir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Khanum Taryn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74Khatun Cllr Shiria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74Khanum Dr. Nazia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75Khatun Sapnara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76Khurshed S H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76Kibriyah Minhaj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77Lais Mohammad Abul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77Liton Mohammad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Mahmud Taysir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Malik Dr. Khalifa Mohammed Abdul . . . . . . . . . . .79Malik Md. Abdul (Parvez) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79Maruf Mohammad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Masroor Ajmal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82Mazhar Ali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83Miah Ahfaz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83Miah Alhaj Mohammed Rais . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84Miah Ana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84Miah Al-Haj M. Noor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85Miah Anawar Babul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86Miah Arju Mbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86Miah Bambul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87Miah Muhammed Ayas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87Miah Dr. M G Moula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88Miah Faruk Mbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88Miah Jusna Begum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89Miah Md Harun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89Miah Mohammed Shofique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90Matin Delwar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90Miah Rohema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91Miah Sajjad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91Miah Sanam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92Miah Shanur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92Miah Tommy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93Miah Yousuf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93Mitu Mohammed Mohed Ali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94Mokkodus Jamal Uddin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Momtaz Hasina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95Moni Rowshanara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95Mortuza Ghulam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96Muhammad Hafiz Abdullah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96Muquit Shuyeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97Pasha Nur-Ur Rahman Khandaker . . . . . . . . . . . . .97Pasha Syed Nahas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98Paul Rabin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98Quadir Mayor Abdul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99Qureshi Murad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Rahman M Nijam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100Rahman Alaur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100Rahman Anis Obe Jp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101Rahman Alhaj Md. Sajjadur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101Rahman Ataur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102Rahman Aziz-Ur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102Rahman Mayor Lutfur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103Rahman Dr Moijur A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104Rahman Habib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104Rahman Mahbub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105Rahman Mahidur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105Rahman Md Abu Nasir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106Rahman Mizanur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106Rahman Mohammed Ahbabur (Miror) . . . . . . . .107Rahman Mohammed Hafizur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107Rahman Mohammed Lutfur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108Rahman Mohammed Mohidur . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108Rahman N. M. Serajur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109Rahman Mohammed Mujibur . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109Rahman Sheikh Mohammed Mofizur . . . . . . . . .110Rahman Syedur Ranu Jp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110Rashid Aminur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Rauf Mohmoud A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Ray Mukul Chandra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112Rohmam Cllr Md Mohibur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112Saha Dr Bijan Kumar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113Salam Dr Mohammed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113Sattar Muhammed A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114Shahajahan H M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114Shahid Abdul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115Shariff Sultan Mahmud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115Shelim Wazid Hasan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116Shoaib Reza Ahmed Faisal Choudhury . . . . . . . .116Sujat Sheikh Mp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117Siddiq Tulip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117Suton Abul Kalam Azad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118Syed M Altab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118Taher Mohammed Abu Mbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119Tuahid Sheikh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119Uddin Baroness Pola Manzila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120Uddin Dr Ruab Bsc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120Uddin Dr. Wali Tasar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121Uddin Faruk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121Uddin Giash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122Uddin Joshim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122Uddin Khondaker Forid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123Uddin Moin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123Uddin Nobab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124Uddin Syed Monsur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124Uddin Zafar Jp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125Ullah Cllr Abdal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125Uz-Zaman Cllr Motin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126Waess Abssar Mohammed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126Waheed Rekha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127Zaman M K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127Zamir M Naufal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128



Helal Uddin Abbas is a former Leader ofLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets. Hecame to the UK in 1972. He joined theLabour party in 1979 and since then hasgone onto to serve in several positions in-cluding; ward secretary, chair of a second-ary school governing body, councillor, vicechair of the London Borough of TowerHamlets Education Committee, and leadmember for education.

Helal Uddin Abbas was one of the foundersof the first locally based anti-National Frontorganisations, called the Anti Racist Com-mittee of Asians in East London (ARC-AEL).Mr Abbas has worked previously as a youthand community worker in several Londonboroughs as well as the training pro-gramme director of Common Purpose, anational charity. He was the lead memberfor education in the London Borough ofTower Hamlets and leader of the council fora number years. As leader of the council hewas responsible for improving the standardof education in the borough, ensuringhousing issues were resolved as well as de-veloping new houses and providing resi-dents with access to employment and

training.During his time at the council he achieveda good rating under the government’s com-prehensive performance assessment initia-tive, which recognised Tower Hamlets hadboth a focused and astute political leader-ship as well as strong, clear management.Under Cllr Abbas’ leadership the Boroughof Tower Hamlets has achieved many Bea-con Awards in fields such as; communitycohesion, race equality, getting closer tocommunities and support for social careworkers as well as an LGC award for thebest Social Services Management Team.

Helal Uddin Abbas is notably proud of hispolitical achievements in regeneration,transport, housing and education. He is ac-tively involved in campaigning for local res-idents and constantly stresses theimportance of value, respect and inclusive-ness. He was also involved with the BengaliHousing Action Group and was the secre-tary of the organisation. he currently con-tinues to serve as a councillor.

Helal Uddin Abbas

SECTOR:Politics

MrAbdul Ahad is a British Bangladeshi whohas been working in the catering industry fornearly thirty years, and it is fair to say that hehas been more than a success.

His first restaurant was opened in MiltonKeynes in 1980 and since then his cateringempire has grown stronger and stronger.From the moment Mr Ahad entered thecatering trade, he saw a vision to create anultimate shrine to Indian food. In 1998, hisplans began to take shape, and finally in early2002, the dream became reality.

As the owner of the famous Jaipur Restau-rant in Milton Keynes, Mr Ahad is the manbehind the largest purpose built Indianrestaurant in Europe.

The Jaipur Restaurant itself is an architecturallandmark building of great beauty, and onethat Mr Ahad refers to as his own ‘mini TajMahal’. The food and the service inside isequally impressive, having won practicallyevery available award to Indian cuisine.

Furthermore, although initially Jaipur wassolely an Indian Restaurant, it now houses aThai restaurant, the Orchid Lounge, on thefirst floor.For all his success as a restaurateur, Mr Ahadis equally as successful in other fields –one of

which is fundraising for charities. Two of MrAhad’s favourite causes are ‘the Jaipur LimbProject’ of the Rotary International and Savethe Children charity.

The ‘Jaipur Limb Project’ set up in Jaipur,India, is engaged in manufacturing prostheticlimbs for children and adults who have losttheir limbs due to disease or accidents. Theprovision of a new limb gives them a lifechanging experience enabling them to a fulllife in many different ways. Mr Ahad is amajor supporter and contributor to the proj-ect during the last twelve years, raising over£30,000 through the Annual Charity Dinner.

The Ousedale School branch of the Save theChildren fund engages in a variety offundraising activities. For last 19 years, theAnnual Gala Dinner at the Jaipur is one of thehighlights of the fundraising calendar andgives everyone a chance to participate eitherby donating for the raffle draw or by attend-ing the dinner. As recognition of his services,Mr Ahad was made the Honorary Presidentof the Ousedale School branch of the Charity.

Mr Ahad is also a high profile and integralmember of Britian’s Bangladeshi communityand has supported the development ofschools, mosques, madrassas and other char-ity projects in his parental village in Sylhet.

Abdul Ahad

SECTOR:Catering


Syed Neaz Ahmad is an academic, author,writer, journalist and columnist. He taught CreativeWriting and Applied Linguistics at Umm Al-QuraUniversity, Mecca, Saudi Arabia for over 20 years.While at Mecca University he authored a series of3 textbooks on writing. They are used at MiddleEast universities.He has contributed to a US university textbook ,Cultures: Diversity in Reading & Writing edited byCalifornia University Professor Emily Thiroux & pub-lished by Prentice Hall, New York (1998). The an-thology is used as a textbook at universities in theUS, Europe & Asia.

Syed Neaz’s research feature in many textbooks in-cluding: An Introduction to Language & Linguisticsby CJ Hall published by Continuum (2008), An In-troduction to Linguistics by Syal Pushpinder pub-lished by Prentice Hall India (2007) and an e-bookof quotations compiled by a California academic.

He contributed articles, features, book reviews andweekly columns to two Jeddah-based daily news-papers: Saudi Gazette & Arab News. His weeklycolumn, Viewpoint was published for 25 years, arecord in the Middle East. He was also editor ofSaudi Gazette for about five years. Syed Neaz wasEditorial Consultant for Saudi NGO Muslim WorldLeague's English Journal.

He writes for the London newspaper The Guardianon Muslim & Middle East issues. He has also beenpublished in The USA Today, Asian Tribune, Busi-nessweek, BioScience Encyclopedia, UNHCR re-

ports published by the United Nations, the Virginia-based Institute on Religion & Public Policy publica-tions. He currently writes editorial articles for theDhaka daily, New Age and Jeddah newspaper,Arab News. His articles are carried by websitesworldwide including Middle East Online,Newspeg.com, journalisted.com, World PoliticalReport, Medarabnews and US National PublicRadio.

Syed Neaz has interviewed several primeministers,ministers, MPs, Oscar winners, Nobel laureates andhas edited academic journals. His articles have beentranslated into Arabic, Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish,Portuguese, Indonesian, Bengali, Hindi and Japan-ese languages.He obtained a first class BA (Honours) and a firstclass MA from Dhaka University during the headydays of Bangladesh freedom movement. Later heattended Birmingham& London universities to pur-sue higher studies & research. His main area of re-search and interest is Comparative Linguistics –Arabic & English language.He has given over 50 talks on BBC World ServiceRadio on topics related to Islamic rituals, practicesand education and social norms. During his stay inSaudi Arabia hewas often a guest on Saudi TV chatshows and Jeddah FM Radio.

Syed Neaz heads a resource & research organiza-tion, Media World. He is currently working on hismemoir, Saudi Arabia: A Holy Country That Was.He lives in London with his wife, Rina Musharrafand children, Faisal, Talal, Tania & Anzar.


Mr Ali Ahmed came to the UK in 1975with his father Al-Hajj Alauddin Ahmed whohails from the village of Saheb Bari Chandai,Dokkin Surma, Sylhet. In the UK Mr Ahmedstarted his first business in 1984. Currentlyhis business interests vary from investmentproperties, frozen foods to catering.

Mr Ahmed is members of various organisa-tions in UK, and has held various offices. Heis one of the founding members and atrustee of the Bangladesh Centre Cardiff. Hehas been an executive member since 1985and Treasurer since 1995. Furthermore, heis also Chairman Caddyn housing contactgroup, one of the member of the Board ofdirectors Taff housing Association, Executivemember and financial supporter of BanglaSchool in Cardiff.

Previously he was an Executive Member ofShahjalal Mosque Cardiff from 1987 to1998 and General Secretary ShahjalalMosque Cardiff for two periods in 1999and from 2000 to 2002. Ali Ahmed is alsoan Executive member of Race Equality FirstCardiff and Treasurer of Islamic SocietyWales as well as being Vice ChairmanDokkin Surma Somaj Kollan Somitti.Ali Ahmed maintains a strong connection

with politics. He is Executive Member ofCardiff County Labour Party in addition tobeing Ethnic Minority Officer Cardiff Cen-tral. He is Secretary of Cyncoed, Pentwyn,Llanydren Branch Labour Party ( and hasbeen Since 2006) as well as holding the po-sition of Executive Member - Cardiff & ValeFabien society.

Ali has organised numerous fundraising andcharitable events and has campaigned re-lentlessly for the Labour Party in his localcommunity.

In 2006 Ali was a recipent of the Channel SCommunity Awards for his services and con-tributions to the community.

In July 2009 Ali Ahmed was invited to theQueens Garden party and earlier that yearhe was invited by the Prime Minister to a re-ception at 10 Downing Street.

Ali Ahmed

SECTOR:Business and CommunityRelations

Syed Neaz Ahmad

SECTOR:Academic, Writer & Critic



Mrs Ayesha Ahmed was born in Noyasarak Mankpir Roadof Sylhet. She started her education at Kazitola PrimarySchool, followed by Kishorimohon Girls High School and Syl-het Government Mohilla College.In 1965, she got married to the late Dr Bashir Ahmed.The following year, they moved to the UK.Ayesha Ahmed and her husband are blessed with four sonsand one daughter.

Ayesha Ahmed has worked in the media sector for overtwenty years. She was the first female British Bangladeshijournalist in the UK, and for this she is widely respected.She is currently the Honorary Editor of the weekly newspaper‘Surma’, a publication that was started in 1977 by her latehusband; this role entails assisting with the printing, publica-tion and editing.

In response to the outstanding contribution that AyeshaAhmed has made to the media sector, the Sylhet Press Clubhas honoured her by providing life membership to their or-ganisation.In addition, Ayesha Ahmed has been an ambassador for theBangladeshi people who live in Britain. She has been verysupportive, and has been generous with her time in helpingthose members of the community who need it.

Ayesha Ahmed

SECTOR:Media

Bashir Ahmed was born in Bangladesh in 1953. He com-pleted his SSC from Commilla Board in 1970. After that hecompleted his HSC fromMadanMohan College in 1972, andhe gained a BA (Hons) degree from the same college in 1974.

He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Kohinoor ofIndia Holding Ltd. This company owns and manages thelargest chain of Indian restaurants in Netherlands.

Mr Ahmed is the propriertor of Kasturi Restaurant situated inEast London. The catering establishment is well known forits quality food and service and has won a number ofawards.

Mr Ahmed’s journey to his current prolific role began in1974, when he started working in a restaurant. He quicklyrose through the ranks, and in 1981 became the first Asianrestaurant manager at the Hotel Ibis Amsterdam in Holland.It was also in 1981 that he opened the first branch of Kohi-noor of India, and set up Kohinoor of India Holding Ltd.

In the years since he has gradually built up his restaurant port-folio to become the successful man that he is today. His efforthas not gone unrecognised. In 1988, he was named ‘Man ofthe Year’ for the small business association by the Chamberof Commerce for East Netherlands. He has also been namedan ‘Investor in People’ for his role of establishing the KasturiRestaurant and Catering business he owns in the UK.

He has donated to many charitable institutions and causesboth here in the UK as well as in Bangladesh, and continuesto donate generously even today.

In his private life, Bashir Ahmed is a keen follower of sports.He plays both football and badminton, and was an Instru-mental Guitar Artist on Radio Pakistan and Bangladesh be-tween 1968 and 1974.

Bashir Ahmed

SECTOR:Catering


Cllr Ohid Ahmed is the Executive DeputyMayor of the London Borough of TowerHamlets. Ohid is a part qualified CertifiedChartered Accountant (ACCA). He has aMasters Degree in Accountancy and be-tween 2002 and 2005 he completed hisMBA from University of East London.Cllr Ahmed was the founder and instru-mental of setting up Labour Friends ofBangladesh (LFB) and chair until 2010. AsFinance & Grants Coordinator for Lea sideRegeneration hemanages various projectsinvolving employment and finance. Healso provides advice and support to projectmanagers in relation to financial manage-ment and administrative issues. CllrAhmed was the first Bangladeshi Muslimto sit on the London Thames Gateway De-velopment Corporation (Ministerial ap-pointment).Cllr Ohid Ahmed is very strongly involvedin the social and economic regenerationof East London. He has workedwithmanycommunity and voluntary organisations inEast London and has helped them obtaingrants. Another issue close to Ohid’s heartis the removal of barriers in the labourmarket for those groups who are at a dis-advantage in entering the labour market.

He places particular emphasis on combat-ing race, sex and disability discrimination,and he has helped implementing meas-ures, which will eradicate these barriers.I was also Cabinet member of Regenera-tion, Localisation and Community Partner-

ship from 2006 to 2009 and Educationand youth Services for 2005. CouncillorOhid Ahmed was Cabinet Member for re-sources and performance in 2009 andwasshort listed for prestigious LGIU award forhis outstanding contribution to financialperformance in Tower Hamlets.Cllr Ohid Ahmed also serves in severalcommunity organisations. He is the Trusteeof the Golapgonj Education Trust, as wellas a Trustee for the Mahmud Hussain Ed-ucation &Welfare Trust. He currently holdsthe position of Board Member at both theLimehouse Youth Club and the Poplar(Aberfeldy) Islamic Cultural Centre. Hewasformerly the Cabinet Member of Educa-tion and Youth Services for the LondonBorough of Tower Hamlets, and the youthand cultural secretary at the BangladeshCentre.Other positions have included being aTrustee for Canary Wharf Further Educa-tion Trust, as well as a Director for PoplarHarca. Cllr Ohid Ahmed’s favourite pas-times include following national and inter-national Politics, cricket, Chess, gardeningas well as computing. He is a well-roundedCouncillor striving for the success of EastLondon and the people within.


Cllr AMOhid Ahmed

SECTOR:Politics

Mehfuz Ahmed was born and broughtup in City of Westminster.He attended local primary and secondaryschool in Westminster.Mehfuz’s Grandfather came to the UK inthe 1950’s and his father soon followed;both lived in the City ofWestminster. Theyoriginate from village Nidon Pur, BeaniBazaar, Sylhet District.

He is the son of Late Alhaj Hafiz Uddin,highly respected member of the commu-nity. His father was the Founding Presidentof the West London Awami League, For-mer Chairman of Marylebone BangladeshSociety and a trustee of Beani Bazaar Wel-fare Trust UK. His father has also been onthe board of many Westminster Networksand has received many awards from theCouncil and other organisations in recogni-tion to his work in the City ofWestminster.

Mehfuz currently works for a leading na-tional Voluntary Organisation. Previouslyhe has worked in the Banking field andhas also been a civil servant. He has alsoworked formanyConservativeMinisters andSecretary of States in his early days.In July 2008Mehfuzmade history with vic-

tory in National Politics inWestminster. Hebecame the first ever Conservative Coun-cillor in 108 years in the Church StreetWard By-Election in Westminster CityCouncil. He is the first andonly BangladeshiConservativeCouncillor inWestminster City

Council. Within 10 months of becoming acouncillor Mehfuz was promoted in May2009 to Deputy Cabinet Member for Chil-dren and Young People.

Mehfuz is also on the board of the Conser-vative Friends of Bangladesh (CFOB). Heis an active member of CFOB since it wasestablished. He has worked very closelywith Chair of CFOB Anne Main MP andcolleagues Dr Charles Tannock MEP (Con-servative Foreign Spokesman in the Euro-pean Parliament) and Dominic Grieve MP(Shadow Justice Secretary) to lobby theCaretaker Government and the BritishGovernment in 2008 for the release of for-mer PrimeMinisters of Bangladesh BegumKhaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina and for afree and fair election in Bangladesh.Mehfuz is currently the General Secretaryof Marylebone Bangladesh Society and afounding Trustee of London Tigers - aleading sports organisation in London.

Mehfuz is married to Ritha Ahmed who isa Company Director; together they have 2children Majeed and Jannat.

Cllr Mehfuz Ahmed

SECTOR:Politics



Born in Sylhet, Cllr Rofique was amongstthree sons of Mr Haris Ali and Mrs K. Nessa.His older brother lives in London and hisyoungest brother, Kutub Ahmed graduatedfromUCL and nowworks for a reputable Ac-countancy firm.

Alhaj Rofique Ahmed married Mrs AyshaBegum in 1983; they have been residing inTower Hamlets since 1985. Their eldestdaughter Aklima Begum, graduated fromWestminster University with a First (1st) ClassHonours Degree in Business Management.She works at Reuters, a worldwideMedia/Fi-nancial Institute and married Nuruz Z. Ruhelin December 2008. Nelema Begum is study-ing Medicine at Kings College University.Their only son, Emad Ahmed is awaiting hisA Level results from Leyton College. NasimaBegum currently studies at CFGS in Year 10and youngest child Shamima Begum is inyear 4 at BJPS.

Since elected as Councillor for Mile End andGlobe Town LBTH in 2002, Cllr Ahmed hasbeen re-elected in 2006 due to growing pop-ularity and holds many important high profilepositions, playing a vital role in decisionmak-ing in the following organisations: CabinetLead Member for Culture and Leisure for2years running. Olympic Delivery Authority

(ODA) Planning Decisions Team. London2012. Chair of Strategic Development andDevelopment Committee for 3years. Chair ofOlympic Development Committee for 2years.London Council’s Culture, Tourism and 2012forum. Chair of Licensing Committee, Chairof Standards Panel. Trustee of Ocean Regen-eration trust. LeadMember of Asia Urbs - Syl-het Partnership. Director of Ocean New Dealfor Communities. LeadMember of the Asso-ciation of London Government (ALG) GrantCommittee. Trusttee of Stepney Relief inNeeds Charity Board. Trustee of East LondonCAB. Trustees of Rich Mix Centre.His contributions to the community includes:Chair of Ben Jonson School Governing Body,Senior Vice-Chair of Greater Sylhet Develop-ment and Welfare Council East London,Tower Hamlets Governors Forum, AssistantSecretary - Ocean Tenants and LeaseholdersAssociation.

Cllr Ahmed has a vision of an inclusive societywhere everyone enjoys opportunities regard-less of their backgrounds. He is working tocreate a stronger local economic infrastruc-ture to create better housing, environmentand health for all. He wants to see childreneducated, motivated and determined to pur-sue successful careers.

Cllr Ro:queUddin Ahmed

SECTOR:Politics

Mr Doros Ahmed is a successful restaura-teur in the West Hampstead, North WestLondon. Mr Ahmed arrived in the UK in1971 from Balagonj in Sylhet. Upon arrival,Mr Ahmed completed his secondary educa-tion. He also took a marketing and manage-ment course. He then proceeded intoemployment in West End hotels, whichhelped build his knowledge and experiencesubstantially.

In the early 1980’s Mr Ahmed went intopartnership with Emanul Hoque of the fa-mous Lal Qila restaurant. Later, Mr Ahmedopened his first ever restaurant called East-ern Brasserie in Holborn and this followedby another restaurant called Chowrangee inCentral London.

Mr Ahmed moved to West Hampstead inthe 1990’s where he opened up Babour Em-pire and Ruchi restaurant. Mr Ahmed hasbeen successfully running Ruchi restaurantwith his eldest son Khaled Ahmed.

Mr Ahmed has been a long serving memberof the Bengali community. He was thefounding member of the Bengali Workers

Action group from its inauguration in 1976.The association is now known as the BengaliWorkers Association (BWA). He has alsoserved as the treasurer for this association.He completed two terms helping theBangladesh community of Queens Park, to-talling five years as the General Secretary ofthe Queens Park Bangladeshi Association.Adding to this, he is Senior Vice President ofthe Bangladesh Caterers Association UK. Healso plays an active role as a labour partymember of North Kensington closely work-ing with member of the parliament, KarenBuck. He is also interested in Bangladeshpolitics. Bango Bandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rah-man being his idol. He is also the Vice Pres-ident of West London Awami League. MrAhmed is currently General Secretary ofQueens Park Bangladesh Association, NorthWest London.

Mr Ahmed is married to Samirun Nehar andthey have five children, two sons and threedaughters who are attending college anduniversity.

He enjoys travelling and has visited manycountries.

Doros Ahmed

SECTOR:Catering



GulamMortuza Ahmed was born in the Biswanath regionof Sylhet Bangladesh and came to the UK at an early age. Heis one of four sons of Haji Shajidur Rahman.

Gulam achieved a Masters Degree in Commercial Law fromthe University of Birmingham and called to the Bar by theHonourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn in 1997.

Gulam is a specialist criminal defence barrister practisingfrom 1 Inner Temple Lane Chambers, Temple, London.Gulam undertook his pupillage training at 2 Paper Buildings,Temple, London. Over the last few years Gulam has success-fully represented clients charged with fraud (including VATfraud, Inland Revenue Fraud, Company Fraud, Bankingfraud), money laundering, murder and terrorism. Gulam hasbeen led in multi-handed cases and instructed as lead coun-sel in multi-handed cases. Furthermore, Gulam has also ap-peared before the GMC and the Coroners Court

Gulam is highly regarded as a very competent barrister in afield of law which lawyers of Bangladeshi origin have rarelyexcelled. Gulam is a very promising Barrister who has ap-peared in many notable cases. His ability and achievementsmake him one to watch out for in the future.Gulam is married with 3 children, 1 daughter and 2 sons. Hishobbies are current affairs, sports and travelling.

Gulam is a member of the Criminal Bar Association.He lives in London and Birmingham.

GulamMortuzaAhmed

SECTOR:Legal (Barrister)

Mesba Ahmed was born in Nidon Pur, Beani Bazaar, in theSylhet District of Bangladesh.He is the son of the late Alhaj Hafiz Uddin.Mesba followed both his grandfather’s and father’s footstepsby moving to the UK in 1972.He completed his education in England. He then worked forAllied Dunbar as a Financial Consultant.Due to the recession in the early 1990’s, he was forced tochange his career, and consequently started working for theMarylebone Bangladesh Society andAgeConcernWestminster.He is currently The Chief Executive of London Tigers, Director ofPrime Financial Services and a Partner of Atithi Restaurant.Mesba established London Tigers in 1986 and it has grown im-mensely since its inception. The organisation haswon numerousawards, and is widely recognised as a beacon of success bymany local authorities, sports governing bodies and politicians.The Patron of London Tigers is Ken Livingstone, the formerMayor of London.

Mr Ahmed is involved with many charitable organisations.He was the founder President of Nidon Pur Welfare Associ-ation and a Governor of the Ark Academy School to namebut a few.For his endeavors, Mr Ahmed has received a number of highprofile awards. In 2004, he was the winner of the inauguralWestminster Local Leadership Award, and in 2005, he wonthe GG2 Leadership Diversity Award. He was nominated foran Outstanding Achievement Award at the Sony Asia Tele-vision Sports Personality Awards in 2007, and London Tigerswere nominated for Best Community Organisation UKin the 2008 Channel S Awards.

Recently Mesba visited Bangladesh as part of the Foreign &Commonwealth Office programme called ‘Projecting BritishMuslims,’ which enables prominent British Muslims to visitcountries to compare experiences and celebrate the suc-cesses of Britain’s Muslim population. The delegates werealso able to dispel misleading stereotypes and myths andgive first-hand accounts of actual life as a Muslim in the UK.Mr Mesba Ahmed is married to Mrs Lubna Ahmed, and to-gether they have four children.

Mesba Ahmed

SECTOR:Community Relations



Mohammed Belal Ahmed is the chiefeditor of the most circulated newspaperin the UK and President of the LondonBangla Press Club, a prestigious role for areputable organisation within the Banglamedia journalists.

Mohammed Belal Ahmed is from Bar-lekha Moulvibazar, Bangladesh where helived with his father Late Abul KhairMustafa and mother Jahanara Khanam.During the liberation war for the inde-pendence of Bangladesh, at the age of6, Mohammed Belal Ahmed was exiled,separated from his family for 10 monthswhich to date he describes as was one ofthe toughest moments in his early life.

Upon returning from exile MohammedBelal Ahmed completed his pre-universityeducation at Sylhet and graduated fromthe University of Chittagong.

In 1990, he moved to the United King-dom and a year later 1991 entered Jour-nalism joining Weekly Surma as anews-editor he as been involved withthat newspaper for the last 20 years. In1995, Mohammed Belal Ahmed became

the Chief Editor of Weekly Surma and inearly 2002 he was involved in publishinganother newspaper Bangla Express, alsoserving as the Chief Editor which gener-ated a good readership.

Mohammed Belal Ahmed has long beeninvolved in various social, cultural, edu-cational organisations in addition tobeing a member of professional bodies.Mohammed Belal Ahmed is an activemember of the Anti-Tobacco Movement

and is one of the steering group mem-bers for the Bangladeshi Stop TobaccoProject in Tower Hamlets.

Mohammed Belal Ahmed and his wifeSadia Ahmed reside in Dartford, Kent,with their two sons Nafis and Sami.

Mohammed Belal Ahmed

SECTOR:Media

Mosleh Uddin Ahmed was born in Go-lapgonj in Sylhet, Bangladesh in 1970.He is the son of Mr Haji Ismail Ali and thelate Mohiba Bibi.

Mr Ahmed moved to the UK after he hadcompleted an MA at Jagannath Collegein Dhaka. While living in Bangladesh, MrAhmed became involved in the world ofjournalism. He completed his apprentice-ship at Jugovary in Sylhet, before movingto Sylhet Sanglap and then the DailyAjker Sylhet.

Upon his arrival in the UK, Mr Ahmedcontinued working as a journalist, and isnow the news editor of the mostrenowned British Bangladeshi newspaper– Janamot. Mr Ahmed was the joint sec-retary of the Bangladesh Journalist Asso-ciation, and was also the LiteratureSecretary of MC College Student Unionin Sylhet.At present, Mosleh Uddin Ahmed is an

integral member of the London BanglaPress Club, and he is also the treasurer ofthe newly elected Press Club Committee.Mr Mosleh Uddin Ahmed is a life mem-ber of Bonigram- Bhorgram High School.Mr Ahmed is married to Hamida Begum,and they have two children Iffat AhmedMohathir Ahmed.

Mosleh Uddin Ahmed

SECTOR:Media(Journalist)



Mr Monir Ahmed is a renowned young business entrepre-neur and a community worker. Born in 1970 in Mohammad-pur, Biswanath, Sylhet, He is the son of late Jomshed Ali andMahmuda Khatun. He passed his SSC from Ramshundor HighSchool Biswnath, HSC from Sylhet Govt College and BA fromModan Mohan College Sylhet. He holds a certificate in Export-Import System Processing and Cargo from British InternationalFreight Association (BIFA).Mr Ahmed has been associated in the cargo business for a longtime. He started his business Cargo Management in 1987 andworked for sixteen years. Mr Ahmed came to Britain in 2000and initiated a cargo business in the UK named JMG Air Cargoat 8 Fordham Street, London E1 1HS. This organization cur-rently contributes the majority of Biman’s cargo in Bangladesh.In the past few years, Biman has earned a huge amount ofmoney from JMG and Govt of Bangladesh. With more than 60agents all over the UK, the company gives top sales awards andtraining to the agents and employees every year.Mr Monir Ahmed’s pioneering business model emerged froman understanding that cargo services must remove the problemof inaccessibility to the consumers. Mr Ahmed introduced theair cargo business to the Bangladeshi community. He has notonly made cargo services cheaper, but also quicker to con-

sumers and achieved a major share in the market. As well asensuring that he remained true to his values about the com-munity. This achievement made JMG a leading cargo businessthat runs worldwide, providing door to door services to EUmember states as well as parts of Africa, Asia and Canada. Hehas now plans in place for cargo services to Bangladesh fromboth Italy and France.Mr Ahmed is also known for his charitable work and hardwork-ing nature. Being Treasurer of Sylhet CNF Agent Association formany years. He is also known for his role as a Business Execu-tive Member of Bangladesh Overseas Centre and the Organiz-ing Secretary of Biswanath Youth Association.Continuously participating in various social and cultural eventsand is well known for his donation and voluntary work. His or-ganisation supported in carrying relief goods to Bangladeshduring different natural calamities in Bangladesh. He is thetrustee of Biswanath Education Trust, Chairman of Dar-Ul-Kuran Nazirbazar Charity Organization and Chairman of BBIF-86 in the UK.He is also the Finance Director of AL-Jamee Groupof Investment UK.Mr Ahmed is adamant to continue his community work andextend more support towards the community in the future, es-pecially for the development of rural Bangladesh and the UK.

Monir AhmedManagingDirector of JMGAir Cargo

SECTOR:Business and community relations



Muquim Ahmed came to England atthe age of 19 to study Production Engi-neering. He started his business careerfrom the age of 21 by helping his fatherto import goods from Britain to Hollandto Bangladesh. He moved into ElectricalWholesaling as well as expanding hisproperty portfolio with being the ownerof Naz Cinema in Brick Lane and variousproperties in and around London.At the age of 26 he became the firstBangladeshi millionaire; since then he hasalways been on the Asian rich list.

Muquim Ahmed, as acclaimed by EstateGazette, (issue October 2005 and Octo-ber 2007) ‘King of Bricklane’ and ‘CurryKing’ by ELA (1st November 2007) diver-sified his interests and moved towardsthe catering industry.

In 1996 he opened Café Naz in BrickLane- the flagship restaurant and is stillthe most high profile eatery in the area.As well as the famous Café Naz in Brick-lane, he opened branches in Cambridge,Cardiff, Horsham, Chelmsford, London

and another café style eatery in BrickLane. Today among many other projectshis award wining Café Naz chain is goingfrom strength to strength.

He also owns a distribution and market-ing division called the Asian Foods Ltd.He feature in the Times article in 2006‘Focus Immigrant Britain’ which wasbased on highly successful Brits of ethnicbackground.

Recently he has successfully bought acentury old manufacturing plant calledRayner’s Bakery at 12 Deer Part Road,Merton SW19 3UQ. The Bakery compro-mises of 13000sq. ft. of usable space.The company has already set up anddedicated a floor for producing readymeals.

He was the chairman of BangladeshBritish Chamber of Commerce for twoconsecutive Terms and continues to re-main involved closely with the Chamber.He has enormous drive and is inspired toimprove the quality of life for himself andfor his fellow being.

He has also dedicated a substantial quan-tity of his time to the Conservative Party.

Muquim Ahmed

SECTOR:Business and Politics

Parvez Ahmed is an entrepreneur who isactively involved with the North WestChamber of Commerce in London. In2006, Mr Ahmed received a communityachievement award from Channel S inrecognition for many years of hard workin the community. The businessmancompleted his education in Bangladeshbefore moving to the UK. However, sincethe age of twenty one, Mr Ahmed estab-lished a number of businesses throughoutBangladesh. Most notably, Mr Ahmed in-vested in the textiles and garment industry.He continued his focus in the textiles andgarment industry after arriving in the UKwhere he also opened a restaurant. He hasbeen closely involved with the BangladeshCaterers Association where he has servedas a Management Committee Member,Deputy Secretary General and SecretaryGeneral over the past 24 years. MrAhmed is also the Managing Director ofS.O.I Limited and Chairman of New Gen-eration 2000.Mr Ahmed also helped organise an educa-tion awards ceremony for the BangladeshHigh Commission celebrating the achieve-ment of young British Bangladeshi’s.

Mr Ahmed is also a loyal member of theLabour party, being an active fundraiser,participating in a number of committees

as well as serving as the current chairmanof the Dollis Hill Branch in Brent Central.Over the last twenty three years, MrAhmed has been involved withmany localorganisations holding a range of posts in-cluding board member, managementcommittee member, Trustee and Chair-man. These groups include the TricycleTheatre and Cinema, Brent Safer

Neighbourhood Team, Brent Minority andEthnic Forum, Greater Sylhet Council UK,North West London Muslim Forum, Kil-burn Partnership, Single RegenerationBoard, Friends of Bangladesh UK, WestHampstead Bengali Association, 403 Har-row Road Limited, Bangladesh Centre(Notting Hill, London), Brent Bengali Com-munity Centre and the Sylhet Sador Edu-cation Trust.

Through his businesses, Mr Ahmed hassupported numerous mainstream nationalcharities through donations and regularfundraising.In Bangladesh, the businessman named acharity after himself to encouragewomento continue studying called the ParvezAhmed Female Educational Trust in addi-tion to supporting the APEX Internationaland the Red Crescent project.

Married for twenty six years to former Lon-don Borough of Brent Councillor LenaAhmed, the couple have been blessedwith two sons. One of which has com-pleted a research Masters in Biomedicineand the other has completed a Law De-gree, with both currently working in LocalGovernment.

Parvez Ahmed

SECTOR:Business & Community relations



MrShafiAhmedMBBS FRCS(Ed), FRCS(Eng),FRCSI, FRCS(Gen.Surg) is a Consultant Sur-geon at Barts and The London NHS Trust andHonorary Senior Lecturer at Barts and the Lon-don Medical School, Queen Mary University ofLondon. He was born in Sylhet and arrived inthe UK as a child and is one of three sons anddaughter of the Late Alhaj Mimbor Ali. Hequalified in medicine in 1993 from Kings Col-lege Hospital Medical School where he waselected president of the medical studentsunion and obtained the Jelf Medal in 1991 foracademic excellence.

He underwent surgical training in London andobtained fellowships from three Royal Col-leges of Surgeons and obtained his specialistregistration in 2006. He spent three years per-forming research into the genetics of colorec-tal cancer and looked specifically at how thiscommon disease affected the Bangladeshicommunity in Tower Hamlets. This remains theonly paper of its kind in world literature. Thepaper is entitled “Microarray profiling of col-orectal cancer in Bangladeshi patients” - Col-orectal Dis. 2005 Nov; 7(6):571-5.He wasappointed as Consultant Surgeon in 2007 andspecialises in general and colorectal surgery.His main expertise is in laparoscopic (keyholesurgery) and is the clinical lead for laparo-scopic colorectal surgery at Barts and the Lon-don NHS trust. He has recently performed oneof the country’s first combined laparoscopic

liver and colon resections. He works in theCentre for Academic Surgery which is one ofthe most prestigious surgical departments inthe country with an international reputationfor excellence in the treatment of colorectaldisease. He is a member of the Association ofColoproctology of Great Britain and Ireland,Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons and theEuropean Association of Endoscopic Surgeonsand has admitting rights at The Princess GraceHospital, The London Independent Hospitaland the Spire Roding Hospital. He is also anHonorary Senior Lecturer at Barts and the Lon-don Medical School and is the surgical lead foreducation for undergraduates. He is an exter-nal examiner for the University of Oxford med-ical school.

He is also actively involved in postgraduatesurgical training and education. He is an As-signed Educational Supervisor for the RoyalCollege of Surgeons of England and runs thetraining programme for surgical trainees atBarts and the London as well as being involvedin the selection process of prospective medicalstudents and surgical trainees. One of his maininterests is colorectal cancer and he launched,in the media bowel cancer screening for theBangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets toencourage participation in this nationalscreening programme. He is married to DrFarzana Hussain a GP principle in Newhamand has two children Usmaan and Zarina.

Sha: Ahmed

SECTOR:Medicine

Shofi Ahmed is a national award winingand and one of the most talented writersof the Bangladeshi community here in theUK. Mr Ahmed was the founder editor ofBangla Mirror, the first weekly English news-paper for the British Bangladeshis. Currentlyhe is freelanciang with English news agen-cies. While studying for a degree in I.T, MrAhmed won a bursary to study at OxfordUniversity. The same year his first article onnatural science also won him a nationalaward. In 1995 he won the Daily Tele-graph’s National Young Science WritersCompetition.

This award gave the writer an opportunityto meet the nation’s leading science writers,journalists and personalities.In 1995, Shofi Ahmed’s profile rose after therelease of his first poetry book, ‘Reason andThe Origin – the Relativity of Science andPoetry’ which was published by New Mil-lennium Publishers.

The book was praised by leading academicsand scholars at a distinguished Daily Tele-graph event. The Royal Society of Science’sSCAN magazine described the book in a re-

view as “A collection of modern poetrycombining the arts of literature with the dis-cipline of science, poems compare themessuch as the physics involved in the creationof the material world and thoughtprocesses”.

Mr Ahmed’s efforts have been widely recog-nised by the community as he received anaward from Channel S in 2006. The eldestof seven sibling’s, he lives in North Londonand is married to Ayesha Ahmed. They havethree children who are Zohura, Ali andZubeda. Shofi Ahmed is soon to release an-other book focusing on his motherlandcalled Sylhet: ‘The Land of the Centre of theEarth’.Sho: Ahmed

SECTOR:Media and Literature



Syed Ahmed hit the headlines by reaching the final five in Se-ries two of BBC TV’s ‘The Apprentice’ – earning himself a Na-tional Television Award nomination in the process. Syed hasseven GCSE’s and a BTEC National Diploma in Business & Fi-nance. Prior to embarking on his successful corporate career,Syed was trained as a junior pilot in the Air Training Corps andalso earned his Duke of Edinburgh Gold standard award.

A successful and dynamic entrepreneur with a background in ITrecruitment, Syed started his first business venture in 2004,when he founded IT People Ltd. He played a key role in bringingin the business of numerous big accounts, including world-fa-mous corporations such as Morgan Stanley, Reuters and Cen-trica. This strong performance, coupled with Syed’s carefulpositioning of the brand within the marketplace, enabled himto agree a deal with his business partner for his shares and leaveto pursue his entrepreneurial instincts and set up a new venturein a growth market.

His energy was channeled into SAVortex Ltd, a UK companythat has developed revolutionary air-spinning heating technol-ogy for hand-dryers. The product has been compared to thegame-changing cyclone technology Dyson brought to the vac-uum cleaner market. After securing international patents anddeveloping two prototypes, Syed hand-picked a managementteam and board of directors to assist the international launch ofSAVortex.As a dedicated and energetic entrepreneur, with an infectiousenthusiasm for business, Syed also found time to develop a side-line in keynote andmotivational speaking – including appearingas a guest speaker at The GlobalManagement Challenge com-petition and presenting awards at The National Final held atCIMAheadquarters. Syed also rolled-out ‘Pioneering Ambitions’– an initiative sponsored by Oxford University and hosted TheEdge Competition final at London Stock Exchange, sponsoredby AIGO & SEEDA.Syed actively supports and sponsors several charities includingCRP – Bangladesh, The Queen Mary University London, BFA,QMBC, Islamic Relief, Bangladeshi Female Academy, and TheAnthony Nolan Trust.

Syed Ahmed

SECTOR:Entrepreneur

Syed Ashfaque Ahmed born in Syedpur, Jaganathpur,Sunamgonj, Sylhet, Bangladesh. He is the son of Late HajiSyed Mohiuddinn Ahmed (Dr Kasha Miah) and Late SyedaBodrun Nessa. He comes from a respectable, well educatedand established family. His siblings are in various high levelPositions in Bangladesh. He completed his M.A from Jagan-nath University College in Dhaka. After graduating heworked as a Lecturer at Syedpur Adorsho College. Whilst inBangladesh he was the president of Shohid Dilder SiritiPatager and a Member of the Interact Club of Sylhet Surma.

After arriving in the UK he continued his passion for teach-ing and worked at various Primary Schools in London. Hecompleted his NVQ level 2 in Children Care, learning andDevelopment from Newham College and is presently work-ing at Woodgrange Infant school as a Teaching Assistant.He is also working for Chestnut After School Club as a PlayWorker.

Syed Ahmed was the Educational Secretary for SyedpurShamsia Shomity in the UK and Membership Secretary ofBarkingside Islamic Cultural Centre & Mosque UK. He is alsothe Educational Secretary for Jagonnathpur Upozillah Devel-opment Association. He is the Executive Member of theSunamgonj Zila Shomiti in UK.Syed Ahmed is also the Chairman for Syed InternationalSchool a leading English Medium Institute in Bangladesh.

Syed Ahmed married Shanaz Moushumi Syeda in 1999. Shecompleted her BA Hons in Human Resources and is workingas a HR Manager in London. They have two daughters andhave a portfolio of properties in Greater London.

Syed AshfaqueAhmedMA (Sociology)

SECTOR:Education andcommunity relations



MeahMonirul Alam can be described asan individual who works tirelessly andcontinuously for the community, andmuch of his efforts are in the best inter-ests of British Bangladeshis, which is thereason why many community membersregard him as an outstanding Communityleader.Mr Alam was born in the village ofEkatuna, Moulvibazar and has been resid-ing in the United Kingdom since 1960.Meah Monirul Alam’s father is late AlhajAbdul Qader and his mother late RabeyaKhatun.Monirul Alam completed his intermediateeducation in Bangladesh after which hearrived here in the UK where he com-pleted a course in Business catering man-agement.He established the first Indian restaurantin Southeast Kent. He currently owns theKashmir Tandoori in Canterbury, Kent aswell as the Chertion Balti Takeaway.He is currently Chairman of North SouthProperty Development Ltd UK.

Mr Alam is the former Chairman ofBangladesh Caterers Association. He iscurrently the Chairman of Euro BanglaNewsweekly based in London. He is alsoSenior Vice President of the Bangladesh

Nationalist Party. Furthermore he is theChairman of the British Bangladesh Busi-ness forum UK Ltd and President of theSouth East Kent Islamic Cultural Centre aswell as General Secretary of South EastKent Welfare Association. He is also direc-tor of British Bangladesh InvestmentCompany.

Mr Meah Monirul Alam is also involvedwith various charity initiatives. He is theChairman of Hope for the Needy Foun-dation, and also a Member of theBangladesh Flood Prevention Interna-

tional Committee UK.Moreover, he is a life member of Jalal-abad Rotary Orthopaedics Hospital andRehabilitation Centre.Mr Alam has contributed generouslyto charities and has helped to develop ed-ucational and religious institutions inBangladesh.

Mr Alam is married to Rowshan Ara Alamand they are parents of two sons and twodaughters who are all married.They have six grandchildren in total.

MeahMonirul Alam

SECTOR:Business and CommunityRelations

Alhaz Sukur Ali is the first elected pres-ident of Bangladesh Caterer and Com-munity Welfare Association based inCarlisle.Born in 1955 in Bishwanath, Sylhet inBangladesh, Mr Ali came to the UKin1969. In 1973 Mr Ali opened his firstrestaurant in Manchester. By 1981, heopened the first Bangladeshi restaurantin Stanwix Bank Cumbria which wasnamed Stanwix Tandoori. The success ofthese two businesses allowed him toopen a mutlitute of catering establish-ments in the area. One of his most suc-cessful restaurants is the ViceroyRestaurant in Carlisle established in1991. He experienced struggles includingracist attacks on the Viceroy but this didnor deter him.Sukur Ali has organised a number ofcommunity events in Carlisle in collabora-tion with Bangladeshi community associ-ation to promote the Bengali culture andfood.He was the founder of the BangladeshiMosque in Carlisle.His outstanding efforts have made animpact on ethnic harmony in the Cum-bria region. He has done fund-raising for

Carlisle air ambulance, IntroducingBangladeshi cuisine to local School chil-dren and Supporting elderly people inmany ways such as providing free meals.He is a patron for Carlisle United FootballClub. He is also the founder of Jamia Is-lamia Atasan Mollapara Education proj-ect in the Balagonj where hundreds ofpoor children receive free residential ed-ucation. BBCC member Mr Ali is atrustee of Doshgor Probashi educationtrust and Bishwanath education trust

based in the UK. In recognition of hisoutstanding contribution to the commu-nity he has been nominated for the pres-tigious channel S community award in2008.Married to Minara Begum, the couplehave four sons who are all currentlystudying. Mr Sukur Ali believes throughhard work and perseverance anythingcan be achieved and is a firm believer ingiving back to the community.

Alhaz Sukur Ali

SECTOR:Catering


Cllr Nasim Ali OBE is an exceptional per-son who has had an outstanding career.In May 2010 Councillor Nasim Ali was his-torically elected as the first BangladeshiLeader of the London Borough of Cam-den. The London Borough of Camden isone of the leading councils in the countryand it is a testament to his ability and tal-ent that he has been elected for this highprofile position.Councillor Ali’s achievement was recog-nised by the Queen with him being madean Officer of the British Empire andawarded an OBE in the New Year’s Hon-our’s list for 2011.Councillor Ali’s achievements were alsorecognised in Bangladesh where he had areception with the PrimeMinister and thePresident to celebrate his achievements.Councillor Ali was born in Islam Pur, Syl-het, Bangladesh and came to the UK aged7. He is married to Amanda Ali and hasthree boys, Rio, Zachariah and Noah.His early initiatives included the CamdenMonitoring Group (1989) to combat racialharassment and the Camden United Po-ject (1994) to unite young people throughtheir common interest in football divertingthem away from racism, crime and con-flict. Councillor Ali received one of the firstCamden Good Citizen Awards.He has been a ward councillor for the Re-gents Park ward since May 2002.

Councillor Ali was appointed Mayor ofCamden at the age of 34 (2003/4) whenhe was the youngest Mayor in the coun-try. Councillor Ali achieved a number ofhistoric firsts in Camden: the youngestever Mayor; the first Bangladeshi Mayor;the first Muslim Mayor; the firstBangladeshi Executive Member and thefirst Bangladeshi Leader of the LabourGroup and the Council. Councillor Ali sawhis role as reaching out to all sections ofthe community to ensure that the politicalprocess was understood by all andworked well for everyone.

During his Mayoral year Councillor Ali metthe Queen and most members of theRoyal family. His most memorable mo-ment was meeting Nelson Mandela.Councillor Ali was an advisor to the Met-ropolitan Police, Prince’s Trust, King’s CrossSRB Board and a Governor for Westmin-ster Kingsway College.He was also the Chair of the Healthy Fam-ilies Partnership at King’s Cross, Boardmember of the West Euston Partnership,Chair of the WEP Planning WorkingGroup and on the Executive Board of theCommunity Empowerment Network.Councillor Ali chaired the CamdenBangladesh Mela Committee. In 2009,the Camden Bangladesh Mela was cele-brated at both the renowned British Mu-

seum and in Regents Park. These were op-portunities for all members of the com-munity to value Bangladesh’s richheritage.In 2007, Councillor Ali helped to arrangea reception for Professor Yunus to cele-brate his award of the Nobel Peace Prize.He has a degree in Informal and Commu-nity Education from the University of Kent.Since 2001 he has been the Executive Di-rector of the King’ Cross Brunswick Neigh-bourhood Association.


Cllr Junab Ali resides in Swindon Wilt-shire. He completed his higher educationfrom Swindon College and qualified as anelectrician.

Cllr Ali joined the Labour party in 2005and worked tirelessly to ensure a thirdterm for the then Prime Minister Tony Blairand the labour government. He was notonly the first British Bangladeshi councillorto be elected to Swindon Borough Coun-cil, but also the first Muslim councillor toachieve this feat.

Junab Ali describes himself as a devoutpolitician with the utmost pedigree of de-termination to bring about positivechange. He is an active member of theSouth Swindon Labour Party Executiveand the party’s chief whip for SwindonCouncil.

Cllr Junab Ali is passionate about commu-nity affairs and as a result he is extensivelyinvolved with numerous charitable organ-

isations and initiatives. He has raised hugesums of money for various causes. Fur-thermore, he is a founder member ofBangladeshi Female Academy (BFA).

Aside from politics Cllr Ali is also the pro-prietor of various restaurants. His hobbiesand interests include history and travel-ling.

Cllr Junab Ali

SECTOR:Politics and Business

Cllr Nasim Ali OBE

SECTOR:Politics



Cllr Shahed Aliwas born in the east end of London in 1970.He went to Sir John Cass Foundation school in Stepney in theLondon borough of Tower Hamlets. After completing hisschooling, Cllr Ali studied a BSc in Social Policy and Manage-ment at London Guildhall University.

He has one older brother and one younger sister. His father isLate Haji Wahab Ullah, and his mother is Somirtha Khanom.They originated from village: Barkat Pur, P.O: Gohor Pur, P.S: Bal-agonj, Dist: Sylhet, Bangladesh.The area of Tower Hamlets is one that Cllr Ali has a great affinityfor. He has been a member of Tower Hamlets council for theward of Whitechapel since 2006.Away from politics, Cllr Ali is well known throughout theBangladeshi community for organsing numerous cultural events.His reputation for staging showswith amazing visual and auraleffects, otherwise known as ‘Ekti Shahed Ali Upohaar’, haveenabled him to hold unique events at prestigious venues suchas the London Arena, Wembley Arena and the Royal FestivalHall. He founded the annual Bangladesh International MediaAwards (BIMA), an event to give recognition to the film, tele-vision and music industry, which is broadcast live around theworld via several television networks.He has also produced several Television Dramas and has be-come a household name and very much respected by allcelebrity artists of Bangladesh.Cllr Ali also holds the honour of being the first Asian person toorganise an event at Historic Royal Palaces – The Tower of Lon-don. That event, held in July 2007, proved to be extremely pop-ular as Cllr Ali, ever the shrewd entrepreneur, brought over the2006 finalists of NTV Close Up such as Salma, Nishita, Rontiand Muhin.

Previous to being a councillor, Shahed was a youth worker, anethnic arts adviser and a social worker amongst other things.By having such a varied professional background, it is easy tosee why he has been such a success in the field of local politics,although even this does not present the full picture, as he hasbeen a strong vocal point on issues that affect the BritishBangladeshi community. He believes he is not an opportunistor career politician, but a challenging voice.Away from his life as a councillor and events organiser, Cllr Alihas a number of business interests including the popular BrickLane music and book shop Sangeeta Ltd, a restaurant in Frin-ton-on-Sea and a property portfolio.

Cllr Shahed Ali

SECTOR:Politics, Arts andPromotion

Kamru Ali is currently the Managing Director of the DistrictOne Estates Group which focuses on property investments.He is an Accountant by profession and after graduating fromLondon University he initially trained in central London AuditCommission for some three years. Kamru knew from ayoung age that he wanted to run his own business and de-cided not pursue a career as an accountant and instead be-come an entrepreneur. Kamru has amassed his wealth withproperty & Land business investments. Having a financialeducation bankground has enabled him to own and co-own a variety of businesses.

Kamru is a family orientated individual and is married withthree children. He is occupied with community organisa-tions and is a keen supporter of many charities. He set up de-veloping village roots in 2005 predominantly to helpunderprivileged children get access to education inBangladesh. He is presently the treasurer of the NewhamWelfare Trust and Business Advisor of Newham BusinessForum.

In Recent years since the inception of Channel S, Kamru hasappeared regularly on the television as a Property and fi-nance expert for the channel. Additionally Kamru organisesand delivers property investment seminars, which has re-sulted in his clients and investors making substantial profitsto date on their investment. Kamru has also featured inother mainstream Who’s who publication, including beinghighlighted as Young Business Leader in the ‘Who’s Who ofBritain’s Business Elite’.

Kamru Ali

SECTOR:Property and Finance



Maya Aliwas married at the age of 16, themother of three children is now a qualifiedSolicitor and an established businesswomanwho owns her own legal practice in Coven-try named after her Maya & Co Solicitors.

Daughter of Aftab Ali and Monta Bibi ofBangladesh Residence (Kojakabad, Bish-wanath Sylhet), Maya immigrated in UK atthe age of 10 months with her mother tojoin her father.

Like any regular devoted housewife she wascommitted to her three children and herhusband, a catering business owner MrSyed Akbar Ali. However at the age of 26with the support of her husband Maya de-cided to study further, she embarked on anAccess course at Tile Hill College, Coventryand then went on to read LLB (Hons) at theUniversity Of Warwick.

To gain some training, Maya first started offby working in a law firm in London for fourmonths, which meant being separatedaway from her family. Maya was trained atJ R Jones Solicitors, and qualified in 2005.She soon progressed herself as the head ofconveyancing department.

In 2007 Maya opened a legal practice inpartnership. She then parted the Partner-ship in March 2009 and set up her ownpractice as a sole practitioner.Maya continuously encourages womenaround her to inspire them to follow theirambition.

Maya Ali is a patriotic person. She hasshown interest in the Bangladesh politics.She has been appointed as the legal Execu-tive for the Coventry Awami League Com-mittee. Her aim is to help strengthening theparty which is currently in power. She is alsopart of the “made in Coventry” campaignfor the Coventry City College in their aimto influence students to study and achievetheir ambitions.

She is seriously considering engaging her-self in British Politics. The British Govern-ment and Politics today is a complex andfast-changing mix of the traditional and thenew. She believes that the British Govern-ment requires new faces, more AsianWomen representing its community inorder for their voice to be counted.

Maya Ali

SECTOR:Legal (Solicitor)

Mohammed Monchab Ali is the former-Chairman of Greater Sylhet Developmentand Welfare Council in UK (GSC). In 2002,Mr Ali was appointed Justice of Peace (Hon-orary Magistrate) at the Chester & EllesmerePort Bench. Born in 1953 in Shorisha Para,Chattak, Sunamganj in Bangladesh, Mr Aliwas educated and employed in Bangladeshbefore coming to the UK in 1982.

Mr. Ali studied Commerce at Madan MohanCollege before completing his Diploma inMechanical Engineering from Sylhet Poly-technic Institute in 1980.After completing his studies Mr Ali joinedKarim PipeMills in Chittagong as an appren-tice engineer in late 1980. During this timehe was also associated with journalism inBangladesh and served as a Sub Editor of the“Purbanchal”, a Khulna based daily until1982.In the UK Monchab Ali established his ownrestaurant in 1985. He then opened anotherrestaurant called the “Bengal Dynasty” inLlandudno, North Wales which proved to bevery popular. In 1991Mr. Ali opened anotherBengal Dynasty in Deeside, North Wales.His restaurant was honoured as the “Best In-dian Bangladeshi Restaurant” in the regionof Wales by Patak Spices in 1993, and was

named as the “Best Restaurant in Wales byGood Curry Guide 1995-97, 1998-1999 &2000. The British Curry Awards namedBengal Dynasty Restaurant as one of the Top-30 Restaurant in UK and Top-10 Finalist for2005 & 2006 and it won British CurryAwards for Best Restaurant in Wales 2007.In addition to Mr Ali’s business ventures he isalso very active in numerous socio-culturalprojects having set up the Alhaj Mazhar AliWelfare Trust as well as chairing Chester &North Wales Bangladeshi Youth Association.

He is also a member of Restaurant Associa-tion Great Britain, Federation of Small Busi-ness in UK and the Ellesmere Port & NorthWales Chamber of Commerce.Mr. Ali was previously involved withBangladesh Caterers Association as a Re-gional coordinator and Senior Vice President,he served as a General Secretary of ChesterBangladesh Welfare Association and theChester Shahjalal Mosque committee.Moreover, Mr Ali is also an Executive Mem-ber of both the North Wales Racial Equalityandthe Chester Asian Council. Mr Ali marriedSophia Ali in 1982 and is blessed with fivechildren and a granddaughter.

Mohammed MonchabAli JP RIPHH

SECTOR:Catering andCommunity Relations



Mr Mubarok Ali was born in Kadipur,Biswanath Sylhet. His father is late AlhajMohommed Somed Ali and mother is-Rupeja Begum He finished his studies in1982 from Government M.C College inSylhet. Mr Ali came to the UK with hisfamily in 1985 and started to workspecifically in the restaurant sector.Within two years he established his ownbusiness. His restaurant is now in Pinner,Middlesex and he also has residentialproperties at the Olympic Village in Strat-ford London.Mr Mubarok Ali is also involved inBangladeshi and British politics. He is themember of British Labour party and cur-rently an active leader of BangladeshAwami League. Mr Ali is now the vicepresident of U.K Bangobondu Parisod,Trustee of Biswanath Education Trust,Founder Member of Kaliigonj secondaryschool, Kadipur Jame Masjid and otherorganisations. He is always supporting

the people who live under dreadfulpoverty in Bangladesh.Mr Ali married Mina Begum in 1983. MrAli has some real estate property businessin Sylhet and Dhaka. Recently he is build-ing an apartment in Dhaka, named afterhis wife called Mina Tower.

Mubarok Ali

SECTOR:Business

Ragib Ali is a leading industrialist, tea-planter, and is also associated with bank,Stock exchange, insurance companies,and many other business houses.He has endlessly contributed to establishmany schools, colleges, masjids,madrashas and medical colleges, anduniversities throughout the country. Bornin 1938 in Bishawanath, Sylhet inBangladesh, Mr Ali was educated therebefore moving to the UK in 1956.Mr Ali, through his hard work and perse-verance transformed himself from an or-dinary waiter to a leading entrepreneurin the UK. He built up a successful restau-rant business, acquired a huge wealththrough share market and real estatebusiness.

Mr Ali’s foresight, exceptional businessacumen and strategic vision, honesty, tal-ents and energy were the key factors forachievement of these wonderful feats.He soon returned to his native countrywith all his funds to contribute in na-tional development.Mr Ali is the current Chairman of SylhetTea Company Ltd and several other teaestates in Sylhet and Chittagong. He isalso the Managing Director of KohinoorIndustries Ltd. and TLRA Holdings Ltd(owner of Kohinoor Detergent Factory)

and has served as Chairman of South-East Bank Limited.Mr Ragib Ali has an endless contributionin social development. His endeavour inthis field is diverse in promoting educa-tion, healthcare, sports, culture, literaryworks, journalism, communication etc.

He has contributed towards the develop-ment of many schools, colleges, universi-ties and madrashas. One of these isJalalabad Ragib-Rabeya Medical Collegeand Hospital, which has become an ex-cellent centre for medical education andhealthcare in the country. A great philan-thropist and a definitive patron of thepoor, throughout his life Mr Ali has de-voted himself for their well being. Hisphilanthropy extends to every aspect oftheir lives. He has made many roads,bridge and culverts. In his name there aremore than 220 projects, which are di-rectly changing life of millions.

Mr Ali prefers a simple living and main-tains absolute simplicity. He is very politein his dealings and mixes freely with peo-ple of every walk of life. he is happilymarried to Begum Rebeya KhatunChowdhury who has been an inspiringforce for her husband also inhibits a bigphilanthropic personality. The couple isblessed with a son and daughter.

Ragib Ali

SECTOR:Entrepreneur and Philanthropist



Rushanara Ali is the first Bangladeshi whoput step in the House of Commons as aMember of Parliament. In May, 2010 shemade this history by winning from BethnalGreen and Bow. Born in Bangladesh, Alicame to the UK at the age of 7 with herfamily. She grew up in Tower Hamlets, study-ing locally at Mulberry School and TowerHamlets College. She completed a degree inPolitics, Philosophy and Economics from Ox-ford University. She lives and works in theEast End of London.

Rushanara is Associate Director of the YoungFoundation. Previously, she worked at theCommunities Directorate of the Home Of-fice, leading a work programme in responseto the 2001 disturbances in the north ofEngland. She has also worked on humanrights issues at the Foreign and Common-wealth Office, as a Research Fellow at the In-stitute for Public Policy Research and asParliamentary Assistant for former MP forBethnal Green and Bow Oona King.

She helped to develop a telephone interpret-ing company called Language Line and

helped set up Tower Hamlets Summer Uni-versity, a pioneering model which has cutyouth crime in the area and has been suc-cessfully replicated around London.

She is the Chair of Tower Hamlets SummerUniversity and SummerUni London, aTrustee of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation anda member of the Tate Britain Council.She was a Commissioner for the LondonChild Poverty Commission; a BoardMemberof Tower Hamlets College; a Trustee of theEnvironment Trust; and a member of theHome office Working Group on PreventingExtremism established after the 7/7 Londonbombings.

She was selected for the Equality andHuman Rights Commission’s MuslimWomen’s Power List 2009.

Rois Ali won the Chef of the Year Competi-tion in 1995/1996, a competition promotedby Environmental Heath Departments from allover Great Britain. This was one of the firstprestigious competitions held Nationally tofind the very best curry Chef in Great Britain.

Rois was born in Bangladesh, but has lived inthe UK since he came to Coventry with isfamily at the age of four. From a very early ageRois developed a keen interest in the cateringindustry, first preparing meals for his family,and then joining the family restaurant busi-ness at the tender age of fourteen. There hecontinued to develop his skills by introducinghis own special blend of spices which he nowmodestly refers to as his “Home cooked Phi-losophy.”

Having spent all of his working life in restau-rants he opened his own restaurant the ‘Ru-pali’s in Coventry in 1991. His restaurants aswell as himself have recieved many accoladesincluding Patak’s Restaurant of the year, GoodFood Guide Award and Guild of MasterCaterers to name but a few.

Since becoming the first ever “Hot Stuff Chefof the Year” Rois’s talents have been in grow-ing demand, with TV appearances on BBCNetwork East, Central Television and LocalRadio. Articles in the Guardian, FinancialTimes, and other National Newspapers plusmany features in the specialised EthnicMedia.He has also been recently involved withBangla TV, Zee TV, and Channel East in Cookand Chat.

Rois is General Secretary of Shah JalamMosque, Coventry. Executive member ofMuslim Resource Centre as well as ExecutiveMember of Bangladesh Community Centre,both situated in Coventry. He is also Chairmanand founder of Bangladesh Catering Profes-sional Association.Previously Rois was School governor forFredrick Bird School and Executive memberfor Racial equality. He also worked closelywith the police as Executive Police Committeemember.Rois is also founder of the ‘Master Chef Pro-motion’, which promotes businesses and culi-nary skills in the British Catering industry.

Rois Ali

SECTOR:Catering and CommunityRelations

Miss Rushanara Ali MP

SECTOR:Politics



Mhammed Siraj Ali is a pioneering force behind the introductionof Indian Cuisine in the Essex region. Vice-Chairman of TheBangladeshi Catering Association (Essex region),Mr. Ali not only in-troduced the corporate social responsibility element to Indianrestaurants in the county, he has also raised close to a millionpounds, overmore than a decade, for numerous charitable causesincluding the British Heart Foundation, NSPCC, Comic Relief andCancer Research.

Siraj’s first restaurant the New Curry Centre focused on authenticcuisine and a superior service, as a result, the restaurant quicklyestablished itself as one of the counties most renowned restau-rants, thanks to its charismatic and entrepreneurial owner.

Due to its success, Mr Ali opened four other Indian restaurants inthe region before opening the multi-award winning Maharajarestaurant, which is his most renowned. Back in the mid 90s, MrAli took over and transformed the failing business into one of themost successful in the country. With innovative cuisine, a uniqueatmosphere and dynamic service at it's heart, the restaurantquickly received recognition by Industry experts including PatChapman, Chair of the Curry Club and MPs, who voted it as oneof the UK’s top restaurants. TheMaharajawas then chosen byMPsto cater for the launch of the first nationwide Bangladesh Festivalof Food and Culture at the House of Commons in 2001. In 2008,theMaharaja was again nominated byMPs to represent the SouthEast in the Tiffin Cup Curry Awards, winning second runner upposition. In 2008 and 2009, the Maharaja was shortlisted as oneof the finalists in the British Curry Awards for London and theSouth East.

An honoured friend of the University of Buckingham BangladeshScholarship, Siraj Ali was awarded the 'Crest for Service to theCommunity' by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets in 2007. Two yearslater, he won the Channel S Award 2009 for ‘Contribution to theCommunity’ London and South East.

In Bangladesh, Mr Ali is one of the Directors of the Metro Centre,a commercial and residential hotel complex comprising of an inter-

national standard hotel and restaurant. Siraj is also the Chairmanand owner of Al Siraj Plaza, a twelve storey multipurpose buildingin Goalabazaar, Sylhet, which includes the 3000 square foot ‘Siraj-Ul-Uloom,’ for Quran & Hadith Research Centre and Library, the3rd research centre of its kind, in Bangladesh.

Proprietor of the City School and College,Mairabazaar, Sylhet,Mr.Ali is also the Founder and Sponsor of the Hajji Soyed Ali MemorialTrust, which supports and provides grants to education establish-ments, as well as aid to underprivileged students.

An active philanthropist, Siraj Ali was the Chairman of the InterimCommittee, Arbitrator and former Treasurer of The Balagonj Edu-cation Trust (1200 trustees), which aims to provide life skills andmuch needed education to the poorest regions of Bangladesh,and Senior Vice-Chairman of The Probashi Umor Pur Union Devel-opment and Welfare Trust.

Mr Ali is also very active within the Bangladeshi Community in theEssex region. Siraj is the Founder Chairman of both The ThurrockBangladesh Welfare Association and The Thurrock Islamic Educa-tional Cultural Centre. He has also been the General Secretary ofthe Essex Jamme Masjid in Southend-on-Sea for over four terms.

In Benfleet, Mr Ali is the Founder General Secretary of the Castle-point Islamic Education and Cultural Centre, as well as the Chair-man of the Advisory Committee of the Essex BangladeshWelfareAssociation.

Happily married, Siraj Ali has one son and three daughters. An in-spiration to his children, his eldest three children have attendedEurope’s top 5 business schools as part of their university educa-tion. Siraj’s son is the owner of an International investment andtrading company.His eldest daughter, a former investment banker, runs a successfulcompany and is pursuing a second degree inmedicine. Siraj’s mid-dle daughter has a doctorate in marketing and a successful mar-keting career in the city. His youngest daughter is still in education,pursuing a career in medicine.

Siraj Ali

SECTOR:Catering



Dr Azmal Ali obtained his MBBS Degreefrom Dhaka University in 1965. He came tothe UK with the then Pakistan GovernmentScholarship and went to Belfast in NorthernIreland for a Post Graduate Training inAnaesthesia in August 1970. He success-fully completed his training under ProfessorDundee and obtained his post graduationqualification from the Royal College of Sur-geon, Dublin, Ireland and also from theRoyal College of Anaesthetist, London,England.

After working in various hospitals in North-ern Ireland, he moved to London andworked as a Senior Registrar at the RoyalCollege of Surgeons under Professor Payne.He was appointed Consultant Anaesthetistat the Central Middlesex Hospital, Londonin November 1977. His main interest is incritical care medicine and he is still workingas a Consultant Intensivist.He would have completed his 40th year inthe UK on 19th of July 2010, inspite of hislong stay in the UK, he never forgot his vil-lage “Basail” in Vikrampur, where he re-ceived his primary school education.During his working life in London, he regu-larly visited Bangladesh and worked self-

lessly for his village. He became the proudfounder member of the Charity Organisa-tion “The friends of Bangladesh” in 1982.He was involved in community work imme-diately after he became a doctor. he estab-lished a High School in 1966 in the villagehe grew up in.The Government approved the school in1969 and the school named as “Basial HighSchool” is running very well with 500 stu-dents. With the help and co-operation ofvillage people in Bangladesh, he establisheda graveyard in his village in 1988.

He also built a Vocational Training Centrewith IT facilities in Bangladesh, with thehelping hand of the UK Charity “Friends ofBangladesh”. The Vocational Training Cen-tre also has many other facilities including aMedical Centre, Kindergarten School and aSewing School. There are 300 students suc-cessfully studying at the school.Dr Ali’s last venture was a 50 bedded mod-ern hospital built in Mirpur, Dhaka,Bangladesh. The hospital was opened byMr Anwar Chowdhury, the then BritishHigh Commissioner in Bangladesh on the14th of February 2006. The hospital is run-ning extremely well.

Dr Azmal Ali

SECTOR:Medicine

Shukur Ali

SECTOR:Catering

Shukur Ali was born in the village of Bar-gup in the chatak, Sylhet region ofBangladesh. He is the son of Mr Rashid Ali.Shukur Ali moved to London in 1970 andimmediately found work in the Kings Crossarea. Within five years of his arrival in Lon-don, Mr Ali opened a restaurant calledHomeria.

In the mid-1980’s, he moved out of Londonto Oxfordshire. There, Mr Ali opened an-other restaurant called Jaflong. This busi-ness is where Mr Ali is involved with to date.However, having established himself in thecatering industry, the philanthropic Mr Alidecided to concentrate on helping his com-munity, both in England and in his nativeBangladesh.He set up and is the chairman on an organ-isation called the ‘Shukur Ali Educationtrust’, the aim of which is to help developlevels of education in the area of Dulabazarwhere he grew up. He is also the Vice Pres-ident of Bangaldesh caterers Association(BCA).In addition to this, he donates money toschools, colleges and other madrasas in his

hometown in Bangladesh.Future projects for Mr Ali include the build-ing of a mosque and a maternity clinic, bothof which are in great demand by the peopleof Dulabazar and Chatak. Mr Ali is a manwho appreciates the support that his familyhas given him. He is especially thankful tohis wife-Rukeya Ali.Together, Shukur and Rukeya Ali have threesons and two daughters.

Their first, Dilwar Ali, completed a businessstudies degree at the university of Cardiff.He is now greatly involved in the familybusiness. Their second son, Shahin Ali, is anoptician and their third son is currentlystudying Performing Arts in college.



Shamim Azad is an active bilingual poet,storyteller and a writer. Her repertoire as astoryteller ranges from Bangladeshi to Eu-ropean folktales. Her performance fuses thelines between education and entertainmentand her workshops are rooted in oral tradi-tions,and heritage.

Azad’s residencies have included TowerHamlets Summer University, SunderlandCity Library & Arts Centre, East Side Arts,Poetry Society, Magic Me, Rich Mix,Kinetika, Bromley By Bow Centre, HalfMoon Theatre and Apples & Snakes.

Azad has published 14 books includingnovels, collections of short stories, essaysand poems in both English and Bangla andhas been included in various anthologies in-cluding British South Asian Poetry, My BirthWas Not In Vain, Velocity, Emlit Project andMother Tongues. She wrote two pays forHalf Moon Theatre.

She has performed at a wide variety of ven-ues including the Museum of London,Cambridge Water Stone, Liberty Radio, Bat-tersea Arts Centre, Lauderdale House, theCommonwealth Institute, British Library,British Council of Bangladesh, Takshila inPakistan and New York. She has worked

with well known composer Richard Black-ford, Kerry Andrews, choreographer Rose-mary Lee, visual artist Robin Whitemore andplaywright Mary Cooper.

She is a trustee of well known charity OneWorld Action, a school Governor andChairperson of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro(World Literature Centre) London. Azad re-ceived the Bichitra Award in 1994 fromBangladesh ,Year of the Artist 2000 Awardfrom London Arts, Sonjojon- A Rouf Award2004 & Civic Awad in 2004 in UK.

Shamim Azad

SECTOR:Arts, Culture & Education

Mr Ali Azhar was born in Sirajganj,Bangladesh, and he completed his MA atDhaka University in 1958. During his stu-dent life, Mr Azhar was deeply involved instudent politics.

He became the General Secretary of the en-tire East Pakistan students’ League and suf-fered imprisonment on a number ofoccasions. He was called to the bar by theHonourable Society of Gray’s Inn in 1962,and since then he has been a huge successwithin the field of law.

Currently, he is the Head of Chambers at 9Kings Bench Walk in Temple, London.Mr Azhar began practising law alongside hisbrother, the late Ali M Abbas, in 1962. Atthe time, Asian barristers were few and farbetween, although the two brothers quicklyimposed their expertise onto the legal sec-tor.Both brothers conducted several cases ei-ther together or opposed to each other,which have set milestones in the Britishlegal system and are reported in the Englishlegal books and studied by all students oflaw. Many laws were passed by the British

Parliament as a follow-up of the outcomeof these cases.

In the years since, Mr Azhar has become aspecialist in many of the various legal areassuch as criminal law, family law, claims fordamages and also human rights.Mr Azhar is a deeply religious man, and it isthis which initially helped to lead him to hischosen profession.

Mr Azhar led the prosecution of the infa-mous writer Salman Rusdie. Mr Azhar tookthe case to the British High Court, then tothe Court of Appeal and then to the highestCourt of the land, the House of Lords.Away from his work, Mr Azhar is a proudfamily man. He married Mrs Farhat Azhar in1970, and they have two daughters –Shabeena Mahmuda and Rubeena Mah-muda. Both Shabeena and Rubeena arealso barristers, and are tenants of their fa-ther’s chambers.

Mr Azhar can be seen as a pioneer in thelegal arena for British Bangladeshis.

Ali M Azhar




Mr Shumon Alom is the current ownerand the director of Thames ManagementGroup Ltd trading as Thames Manage-ment Solutions Ltd and Thames CreditHire Ltd. He works in partnership withJoshim Uddin.

Shumon was born in Bangladesh, villageof Amertol in Chattak, in 1985 and is theson of Mr Hajji Md Nurul Haque and MrsJoytun Nessa. He came to the UK whenhe was 10 years. He has been brought upin London where acquired his entire ac-ademic qualifications.

He started living an independent life at avery young age by engaging himself invarious occupations. He owned his gro-cery shop, which was on Hassel Street,named Best food and then opened hisown restaurant in Swansea.

He joined Thames Management Solu-tions in 2006 and since then he has beenworking in collaboration with his partnerto improve the business.Shumon is a proactive person and com-

mits himself to the advancement of thecompany. He is an articulate and persua-sive negotiator with dynamic influencingskills. He always has the best ways of pro-moting the company products and serv-ices and a degree of shrewdness.

He is a good decision maker and knowshow to plan for the long term to keepthe market share and to promote rev-enue growth. He possesses an excellenttime management skills.

Other than being a director, Shumon isengaged in other form of businesses andinvestments. He is very devoted and hardworking person and always contributesfor the charities associations.

Shumon Alom

SECTOR:Accident Management

Abul Kalam Azad was born in 1963 atthe village Sultanpur, Begumgonj,Noakhali. His father is Moulana MujibUllah and mother is Ayesha Begum.

He passed his SSC Examination in 1978from Gopalpur High School, HSC andB.Com from Choumuhani College in1980 and 1982 and M. Com from DhakaUniversity in 1986.Mr Azad worked with United Traders Ltdin Dhaka from 1985 to 1989. In July1989 he left for United Kingdom.

He was also one of the founder membersof the Sultanpur Hanif Bhuiyan HighSchool in 1983 and he served there as ateacher for sometime. In 1984 he estab-lished the Dhaka based Beguingonj Up-azilla Chhatra Kallyan Samity incooperation with Advocate Azhar Ullahand others.

Mr Azad started his professional life in theUK by joining the Department of Health &Social Services (DHSS). In 1990 he joinedSonali Bank UK and worked in this Bankin different branches including KingsCross, Bradford and Birmingham. Hestarted his own restaurant business in1998 in London. In 2001 he started an-

other business in the field of IT named'Inter Link' at Valance Road, Whitechapel,which still is running. He established acollege named 'St. Peters College of Lon-don' in East London in 2005.

Mr Azad is actively involved in differentsocio cultural and political activities. In1978 he established Sultanpur SamajKallyan Samity and he was the founderGeneral Secretary of this organisation in1980. The organisation provides educa-tion and helps orphans.

He was one of the Founder Members ofthe Enfield Welfare Association UK andhas served as Assistant Secretary. He be-came one of the two Joint conveners ofits first convening committee with Mr.Nurul Haque. In 1995 he became theSecretary General of this Association. Hewas re-elected in this position 2003 to2005.

He established the Azad Foundation in2006. Through this foundation he hasbeen supporting disadvantaged andneedy people.He is married and has two sons.

Abul Kalam Azad

SECTOR:Information Technology



Khodker Aminul Haq, better known as Badsha is the Exec-utive Member of Bangladesh Journalist Association as well asthe Commonwealth Journalist Association UK. Born in Kush-tia, Bangladesh, he completed his education in Bangladeshbefore he was forced to come to England after the assassi-nation of Bangobhaundhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Mr Aminul Haq Badsha completed his MA in Sociology fromDhaka University and graduated from Prison. He was ar-rested for his involvement in student politics. In England MrHaq completed a Masters and a Diploma in Social Work. Dur-ing his student life, Badsha was actively involved in studentpolitics. Badsha spent time in various prisons due to his in-volvement in politics. After his release from Jessore Jail, Bad-sha took admission in Law and Sociology at Dhaka Universityin 1963. During his prison life Badsha came into contact withprominent political and intellectual personalities.

Aminul Haq Badsha believes in Social Justice. He was organ-ising secretary of the then East Pakistan Student League andGeneral Secretary of Iqbal Hall of Dhaka University. He ac-tively participated in the anti Ayub struggle. Furthermore, hewas a freedom fighter in 1971.Badsha was founder of Bangladesh Liberation Radio ShadinBangla Beter Kendro in Mujib Nagar. He was also director ofExternal Publicity of Bangladesh Mission, Mujib Nagar. Hewas appointed as press secretary to the father of the nationin 1969 after he was released from Agartala Mamla.After arriving in the UK, Badsha continues his involvement injournalism.He is the correspondent of a number of national daily news-papers in India, Bangladesh and England, Including ATNBangla, which is an international TV channel.

Mr Haq is married with two children, a son and a daughter.He is committed to honest journalism and stands up for whathe believes in. He will be remembered for his role in journal-ism and politics. He has suffered at the hands of the Pakistanmilitary and was also tried absentia in October 1971 andgiven 14 years imprisonment.

Badsha has worked for the British Civil Service, Asian Unem-ployment project, and also as a Social Worker in the LondonBorough of Tower Hamlets. He has written four books andhas acted in several Bengali films.

Aminul HaqBadsha

SECTOR:Media (Journalism)

Having had a thriving property and restaurant business, ideaof business diversification propelled to make a timely moveto bid for a better future investments, which was realizedduring the tenure of Head of Channel S Sales and MarketingDepartment in 2005.

An astute business venture opened an avenue for a newchallenge: ATN Bangla UK.This was, of course, owing to pre-vious entrepreneurial skills and the experience achieved dur-ing his Channel S days became very useful in establishingATN Bangla UK as one of the most profitable and viewedsatellite television throughout the UK and Europe within avery short span of time.

In spite of his busy schedule, he is a passionate producer andactor with vision and glamour; despite limitations, workingwithout compromise on a professional front, earned reputa-tion for persistence owing to relentless stage practice, im-provisation and determination to promote Bangladeshi filmsglobally and is now a chiseled actor as well as producer ofdistinct caliber.

He has firsthand experience of freelance filmmaking, pro-ducing and acting; produced for many televisions and privatesector media companies, driven by intense enthusiasm andpassion for creative work.Hafiz Alam Bakhsh is undoubtedly one of the youngestBritish- Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, who precipitated andmaximised the Bangladeshi presence in the UK and Euro-pean electronic media, particularly by promoting theBangladeshi social, cultural and economic contributions.

Ha:z AlamBakhsh

SECTOR:Media



Cllr Lutfa was elected as a Councillor forthe Limehouse ward in 2006. She has beenworking as a nurse for the past 30 yearsand is currently a Practice nurse at Gill StreetHealth Centre. Lutfa has a BSc in Nursingand MA in Islamic Studies and Comparativereligion. She is married and has two chil-dren; Rania Khan (Councillor and Scienceteacher) and Sonia Khan (studying BSc inBiomedicine).

Lutfa has been a staunch anti-war cam-paigner and is passionate for empoweringwomen both here in UK and in Bangladesh.More recently she has been campaigning todefend the NHS from being privatised. Sheloves to travel, enjoys swimming at the MileEnd Leisure Centre and socialising. Lutfa iscurrently undertaking Phd on ‘Comparativestudy of teenage pregnancy in the East Endand Bangladesh’.

Cllr Begum alongside being a mother, wife,nurse and a Councillor has supported manyvulnerable women and families. She hasbeen a strong advocate of social cohesionand gains great pleasure in helping others.

Cllr Lutfa Begum

SECTOR:Politics

Shahin Badar is an Award winning andDynamic leading British Asian Singer/Song-writer, who is well known internationallythrough some of her breathtaking collabra-tions. A consummate professional, rolemodel and inspiration to many young andmature people. She is certainly one of theUK based female South Asian front runnersof innovative musical collaborations withher blend of powerful Arabic/Indian/Bengalivocal resonance in music in its various gen-res which blends nicely within the main-stream and Asian music fields.

Shahin scored chart success with theProdigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’, which fea-tured her unique spine tingling chant ontheir multi-selling ‘Fat Of The Land’ albumgiving them and Shahin Billboard and UKNo. 1 chart positions and entry into theGuinness Book of Records as the fastestselling album at the time. For this she re-ceived a double platinum disc and a placein music history.Prodigy's ‘Fat Of The Land’album also reached number 1 in over 23countries.Shahin's collabration with TimDeluxe on the House Stomper ' Mundaya'was chosen as ‘Essential tune of the week’by BBC Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong.

Her collaborations include the likes oscarwinner AR Rahman(yuva), Indian Rope-man(66 meter's), Jah Wobble(Hayati),TimDeluxe(Mundaya), Twista and Juliet Lewis(Get up Get Off). Her vocals have alreadyfeatured in more than 30 Hollywood andBollywood films including Academy, BAFTAand Golden Globe Award nominatedCloser and Academy Award nominatedCharlie’s Angels; US sitcoms North Shoreand Kevin Hill as well as Shyam Bengal’sZubeidaa.

shahin badar supported US rapper 50 Centand worked with director Ang Lee on TheHulk (Eric Bana).Shahin badar headlined many festivals ,launched special events, endorsed charita-ble causes,was described by one main-stream magazine as " one of the mostoriginal artistes around".

She was nominted for the UKAMA awardsfor the best female alternative act this year.Her fantastic Album -'LAILA' is out now inHMV/i-tunes

Shahin Badar

SECTOR:Arts and Entertainment



DrMuhammadAbdul Bari MBE is an educationalist, commu-nity activist, author and parenting consultant in the British Mus-lim community.

He has served East London's diverse communities in various ca-pacities for three decades. Since 2002, he has been the Chair-man of the board of trustees at the East London Mosque(London’s first mosque which now includes the impressive Lon-don Muslim Centre) leading the institution to win the national‘Super Model Mosque Competition’ in 2009. He is also afounding member of The East London Communities Organisa-tion (TELCO), a coalition of churches, mosques, and other civilsociety organisations working together to promote understand-ing and a safer, fairer and better governed city.

He was Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain fromJune 2006 until June 2010 having completed two terms. Priorto that, he served as the Council's Deputy-Secretary Generalfor four years. As Secretary General, Dr Bari worked tirelessly tohave more young people take part in the work of Britain'slargest Muslim umbrella group.In addition, Dr Bari is a patron of Anchor House, a homeless

charity in Newham, the National Youth Agency and the Ram-phal Centre. He is a board member of the London OrganisingCommittee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games(LOCOG), served on the Good Childhood Inquiry Panel whichwas set up by the Children's Society in 2006, and is a trusteeof Muslim Aid, a leading international charity.

He is also an advisor to the Centre for Public Policy Seminars. DrBari has written for various newspapers, journals and commu-nity publications, and is the author of 'Marriage and FamilyBuilding in Islam, 'A Guide to Parenting', and 'Race, Religionand Muslim Identity in Britain'.

DrMuhammadAbdul Bari MBE FRSA

SECTOR:Islamic A8airs andCommunity Relations



Mr Abdul Hai Khalique (Junel), MrAbdulQuayumKhalique (Jamal) andMrAbdul Muhith (Joynal) are the threebrothers behind the internationallyrenowned grocers Taj Stores at Brick Lane.They took over the business from their latefather Alhaj Abdul Khalique who camefrom Baur Bagh, Moulvibazar, BangladeshAbdul Hai, Abdul Quayum and AbdulMuhith all grew up in Brick Lane, East Lon-don. Abdul Hai Khalique and AbdulQuayumKhalique then progressed toMile-stone Preparatory School which is a privateschool situated in Bond Street, West Lon-don. Meanwhile their youngest brotherAbdul Muhith went to Daneford Schoolnear Bethnal Green.

Meanwhile Abdul Hai Khalique advancedto an Architectural college where he com-pleted his first year before joining the familybusiness. Abdul Quayum Khalique on theother hand attended the private AmericanInternational Collegewhere he completed aDiploma in Business after which he toojoined the business. Abdul Muhith alsogradually joined the family business aftercompleting his education.Besides running the very successful and ex-tremely well known Taj Stores, the brothers

also have other business interests. The three‘Taj’ brothers hold a very healthy portfolioof properties located across the capital aswell as several properties abroad, includingin Dubai. They also have a vast amount ofland and properties in Bangladesh whichtheir family have owned for generations.

They also own a restaurant in Brick Lanecalled ‘Le Taj’. The brothers remain closelyassociated with donating to charity andthese include supporting aCancer ResearchCharity in honour of their late mother, andalso a Charity which specialise in treatingproblems and illnesses related to kidneys, inhonour of their late father.

Additionally the brothers have also sup-ported the victims of the Sidr Cyclone andhave donated some17 tubewells to 17 dif-ferent villages in Moulvibazar.Moreover, their charitable activities haveconsisted of funding the development andconstruction of many houses for the poorto reside inwithin the vicinity of their village,as well as financing and building a wholeMosque, and an Islamic School, where over300 students are educated for free.

The Brothers also have a sister in this coun-try called Rashida Rahman. They are all mar-ried with Abdul Hai Khalique having fourchildren; one daughter and three sons.Abdul Quayum Khalique has two sons andAbdul Muhith having two daughters. Alltheir children are in education. The Taj busi-nesses are well acknowledged brandswithin British Bangladeshi households.

Taj Brothers

SECTOR:Business and Property

Abdul Gaffar Choudhury is a famousBengali author and columnist. He is per-haps best known for his lyric Amar BhaierRokte Rangano ekushe February-- whichhas become themain song commemorat-ing the Language Movement, the touchymusic having been composed by ShaheedAltaf Mahmud.His lyric Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano isrecognised as the most influential song ofthe Language Movement. The song issung every year in the probhat feri, themarch in barefoot towards the ShaheedMinar to pay homage to the martyrs. It isregarded by the listeners of BBC BengaliService as the third best song in Bengali.He was born in 1934 in Barishal and cameto England on October 5, 1974. He did hisGraduation from Dhaka University in1959. His father Hazi Wahed Reza Choud-hury was an influential land lord and free-dom fighter of undivided India. He wasthe president of Barishal District Congressand a member of the All India CongressWorking Committee. Mr Reza Choudhurywas imprisoned in 1942 August Move-ment. He served as secretary of MotilalNeheru.Zohra Khatun was Gaffar Choudhury’smother. Before coming to this country,Gaffar Choudhury worked as a journalist

in different national newspapers in Dhaka.During the 1971 War he was in Kolkataworking for the Mujib Nagar govern-ment’s mouthpiece Joy Bangla and forKolkata dailies like Jugantar and Anand-abazar Patrika. He came to England forthe treatment of his wife, and initially leda life of struggle. He could not return toBangladesh for 22 years after the assassi-

nation of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.In the UK, he established the newspaperNatun Din during Ershads reign inBangladesh, and was the founder editor.He has written thirty five books. includingShesh Rajanir Chand , ChandrodwiperUpakhyan etcetera. He visited differentcountries like Japan, Australia, NewZealand and Algeria.Abdul Gaffar Choudhury has been show-ered with numerous awards like BanglaAcademy Award in 1967, Ekushey Padak,UNESCO literary Award, BangabandhuAward, Sadhinota Padak in 2009. In thesame year, the Daily Ittefaq honoured himwith Manik Miah Padak. He is producingthe film "The Poet of Politics (film)" onSheikh Mujibur Rahman. He already pro-duced a film on the assassination of Mu-jibur Rahman called ‘Polashi thekeDhanmondi’.He, at the present, is living with his wifeShelima Choudhury. He has a son, Anu-pam, working in Rueters, and four daugh-ters Tanima, Chinmoyee, Binita and Indira.He currently lives in London from wherehe regularly writes columns in nationalBangladeshi dailies, in Bengali newspapersof Bangladeshi community and in a dailypaper in Kolkata.

Abdul Ga9ar Choudhury

SECTOR:Media, Arts and Literature



Akhlaq Choudhury is a barrister specialis-ing in employment law and public law.Akhlaq graduated in physics from Univer-sity of Glasgow before deciding to studyLaw at the University of London where heobtained a first class honours degree. Hewas called to the Bar in 1992 and startedpractising at 11 King’s Bench Walk Cham-bers (now known as “11 KBW”), which isthe premier employment law chambers inthe country.

Akhlaq’s practice developed rapidly and heis consistently ranked by his peers as aleader in his areas of expertise making himthe leading British Bangladeshi practitionerin employment law.

Akhlaq was a long-standing member of theAttorney General’s panel of approvedCounsel in which capacity he acted for andadvised the Foreign & Commonwealth Of-fice, the MoD, HMRC and various otherGovernment departments in relation tomatters ranging from human rights and dis-crimination in the armed forces to the rightto detain persons with mental incapacity.

He is one of the standing counsel for theInformation Commissioner and has recentlyappeared in many of the ground-breakingcases in the developing area of Freedom of

Information and Data Protection law.Akhlaq also sits as a recorder.

Akhlaq was born in Hampshire but grew upin Glasgow where his father, the late MrAzizur Rahman Choudhury, ran a successfulrestaurant business and was a leadingmember of the Bangladeshi community inScotland. Akhlaq now lives in London withhis wife, Safina, and their three children

Abdul Kadir Choudhury is well known inthe Bangladeshi community in the UK as asuccessful businessman, educationalist andindustrialist. Mr Choudhury, eldest of threebrothers and two sisters, was born at DoriKhunjonpur of Jaggannathpur Upozila ingreater Sylhet in 1926. His father was a wellknown businessman.

In 1953 Mr. Choudhury came to London. Heentered the catering industry in 1956 by es-tablishing a restaurant named NewCalcutta .In 1969, he started another restaurant, Hi-malaya, in Coventry only to sell it later on,and then went back to Bangladesh to starthis own business. After an unsuccessful at-tempt he returned to the UK in 1978.

He later established ‘Jhorna Tanduri Restu-rant’ in Opington. As his business was thriv-ing he also opened ''Rajdoot'', ''Mughal'',and ''Bengal Lancer'', ''Bombay Butler'' inChiselhurst, and ''Bengal Clipper'' nearTower Bridge.From a very young age Mr Kadir has beenworking towards the betterment of the

community and the society; sometimes asan individual and sometimes as a part of acollective. He is a Founding Trustee of Jagan-nathpur British Bangla Education. He hadalso set up a school, Abdul Kadir - MeherunNesa High School, to ensure that the localpeople have access to education, and hasbeen bearing all the expenses of the schoolsince then. He had also built a bridge in hisfather's name in Rasulpur - Kunchonpurroad, and built a Building for RasulpurMadrasa.

He built Al Hamra Shopping Complex witha view to encourage the Bangladeshi com-munity in the UK to invest in Bangladesh,and is planning to expand his business intothe cement industry. He is a part of the Jalal-abad, a Sylheti newspaper, and is the direc-tor of both Sylhet Trade Centre, and AlHamra Bangladesh Ltd.

Mr Choudhury is married to Meherun NesaChoudhury. His two sons Sohail KadirChoudhury and Pavel Kadir Choudhury arealso established businessman in Britain.

Abdul KadirChowdhury

SECTOR:Business

Akhlaq Choudhury




Amirul Choudhury was born in Khashila (Boro Bari) inJagonnathpur. His father is Mr Abdul Gafur Choudhury. Hecame to the UK in 1977 with his parents.

He attended Ambler Primary and Holloway Secondary Schoolin North London. He then went onto Hackney College fromwhere he obtained a National Diploma in Business and Fi-nance.

On leaving college, he joined Tower Hamlets youth serviceas a School Link Project Officer. He had been involved inyouth work since school days. This position provided him theperfect opportunity to continue in this line of work providingguidance and support to the growing number ofBangladeshi youths in the area.

He is the owner and Managing Director of Chytel Commu-nications, which is one of the top ten T-Mobile dealers in thecountry. He entered the telecom industry in 1994, when T-mobile (then known as One to One) introduced mobilephones to the mass market. Chytel became the first gener-ation of traders given licence by T-mobile to trade directlywith the general public.

Branches were opened throughout the UK. Mr Choudhury’sunique sales and marketing skills helped both Chytel and T-mobile maintain a strong retail and distribution presence inthe consumer market, in particular the Asian community.

Today Chytel is a household name in the Bangladeshi com-munity and with Mr Choudhury’s long-term involvement inthe Bangladeshi media, Chytel brand remains amongst thetop of the Bangladeshi brands in Britain.

He is the Managing Director of Janomot Bengali Newsweekly(Britain’s first Bengali newspaper) and a major shareholder.He is also the Vice President of the London Bangla Press Club,an organisation of British Bangladeshi journalists in Britain.He has a portfolio of residential and commercial properties.

Mr Choudhury has supported various small organisationsthat promoted arts and culture and has been a generousdonor to all types of charitable organisations for decades,and has donated well in excess of £50,000 in the last 14years.

AmirulChoudhury

SECTOR:Telecom/Media/Property

Anwar Choudhury (BSc, MBA) was Her Majesty’s HighCommissioner to Bangladesh from 2004 to 2008.Mr Choudhury has had a unique and distinguished careerhaving served in British Industry, The Royal Air Force, TheMinistry of Defence and The Cabinet Office. He is thefirst senior British Ambassador from a British Asian back-ground and also one of the youngest to achieve this level ofposting.

He started his career in Industry as a Design Engineer. Thiswas followed by the Royal Air Force and the Ministry of De-fence where he managed a large team of civilian scientistsand senior military personnel. As Assistant Director, he wasresponsible for developing Ministry of Defence’s strategiesand policies aimed to bring about the integration of Defencesystems within the MOD, NATO and Allies.

Mr Choudhury then moved from the MOD to the CabinetOffice where he was Director of Policy in the Office of the e-Envoy. He was responsible for leading the vision and policyfor UK Government’s ambition to become a leading knowl-edge economy and the best place for e-government. He leftthe Cabinet Office to join the Foreign and CommonwealthOffice and initially worked on strategy and policy issues be-fore taking up his posting as High Commissioner toBangladesh in May 2004.

Mr Choudhury completed his assignment as High Commis-sioner to Bangladesh in May 2008 and has taken up his newrole as Director of International Institutions, Foreign andCommonwealth Office.

Mr Choudhury’s main interests are in policy for radicalchange in government and the potential of the informationrevolution for the developing world economies. On a per-sonal note, he is married with three children. His hobbies in-clude Cricket, Bridge, Bengali Folk music and anaddiction for Bangladeshi cuisine.

AnwarChoudhury

SECTOR:Civil Service(Foreign O9ce)



Atique Islam Choudhury is the son ofDabirul Islam Choudhury and KhaledaChoudhury. He is property developer, indus-trialist and social entrepreneur. Born in StAlbans Hertfordshire in 1963.

Owner and Managing Director of theaward winning restaurant Yum Yum, Eu-rope’s largest Thai restaurant with seatingfor up to 500 covers and owner of MercadoMexican Restaurant. In 2009 Atique’s latestventure Oishiii Japanese Eatery, is a new rev-olution in Japanese dining. With over 26years experience in the restaurant sectorAtique has been at the fore front of innova-tive practice in the restaurant trade and pro-vides a service second to none. He has wonmany accolades and awards, featured in themedia throughout his career.

Atique is a very strong supporter of YouthEmployment, to that end he created theAsian Oriental School of Catering whichspecialised in training and finding employ-ment for young people and providing ahigh level quality chefs throughout Londonand the UK.He is an avid supporter of local and nationalcharities and supporting his Community

through sponsorship and awards by creat-ing opportunities for creative and talentedpeople alike. An ex international badmintonplayer also one his favourite pastimes is asan avid supporter of the Arsenal FootballClub.

His many personal and business awards in-clude; Caterer & Hotelkeeper Healthy MenuAward 1986, 1999, Winner of the ThaiFood Festival, Egon Rhonay Oriental Chefof the Year 1999, Hackney Chamber ofCommerce award for the best service inbusiness 1999, Presented with the Thai Se-lect Award for Thai Cuisine, UK Food Serv-ice award winner 2000, received an Arts &Business award in 2001, Thai Trade & Com-merce Award for ‘Chef of the Year 2003,LBC 2003 Oriental Restaurant of The Year,Archant London Restaurant Award, BestThai Restaurant 2007, Mayor of HackneyBusiness Awards, Best Business in Hackney2009, 2006 presented by the Royal ThaiEmbassy and Buddhapadipa Temple anHonorary Certificate in recognition of hiswork for the Thai community in the UK,1997 Finalist Best Thai Restaurant in Lon-don (Carlton TV)

Atique IslamChoudhury

SECTOR:Catering

United Airways (BD) Ltd, a public limitedcompany by shares, is founded by an expa-triate airline pilot, Capt. Tasbirul AhmedChoudhury along with a group of profes-sionals, business people, entrepreneursunited together for a shared vision to de-velop a world class airline in Bangladesh.The company formed in early 2005 was is-sued with Air Transport Operating License(ATOL) No. 35 from Civil Aviation Authorityof Bangladesh to operate passenger andcargo service in the international and do-mestic sectors.

Capt. Tasbirul Ahmed Choudhury was bornin 1966 in Biswanath in Sylhet. His father isLate Kamaruddin Choudhury and mother isLate Begum Jahanara Choudhury. His Child-hood passed in a very picturesque, beauti-ful, natural scenic land. He went to Londonat the age of 11 with his parents. He fin-ished his secondary school, college and uni-versity life there. Subsequently he gotadmission into the London Southern AeroClub and got the British Flying License(BCPL) by completing his courses. Then hewent to USA in 1991 and got his degreefrom commercial CA academy (Multi En-gine) and started his career from this organ-isation.

He is a high rated flight instructor and ex-aminer of Civil Aviation Authority ofBangladesh for airline pilot. He joined theaero Bengal Airlines (first Private Airlines inBangladesh) as captain when he returnedto Bangladesh in 1996.

Then he served as chief pilot, flight safetyofficer of Air Parabat, South Asia Airwaysand GMG Airlines. He has enriched his pro-fessional skills by obtaining training fromabroad such as the US, Czech Republic,Sweden and Spain. He is now the Chairmanand Managing Director of his own createdorganization, United Airways (BD) Ltd, thefirst listed airline company in the capitalmarket in Bangladesh.Capt. Tasbirul Ahmed

Choudhury

SECTOR:Aviation



His worshipful the chair of council and first citizen of tower hamletsMizanur Rahman Chaudhury (Mizan) has been a resident ofTower Hamlets since 1978 andwent to Canon Barnett Primary Schooland to Sir John Cass’s Foundation School and Aberdeen GrammarSchool (Scotland) for his secondary education.Mizan has been an active politician and community activist for over adecade and iswell known amongst the political activists, young peopleand the community. Hewas a businessman andwas studying fashionand design at the London College of Fashion before entering into pol-itics. Hemade his mark in 2000when he became one of the youngestactivemember of the Labour Party in Tower Hamlets and has served invarious positions since – hewas the Labour Party Secretary in Spitalfieldsand Banglatown Ward from 2001-2006, Assistant Secretary of theLocal Government Committee from 2003-2004 and Youth Officer forTower Hamlets General Committee 2001-2003.Mizan is known to bethe youngest influential figure in Tower Hamlets and Labour Party pol-itics – he has always played an imperative role inmediating and powerbrokerage and has helped many individuals to get to where they aretoday in the political arena.Mizan got elected as a Councillor in Bethnal Green SouthWard at the2010 Local Election - he was elected with the highest votes and sur-prised everyone as hewas not favourite towin - as he lives in the neigh-bouringward, Spitalfields and Banglatown andwas competing againstlocal heavyweights in Bethnal Green South . His commitment and de-termination to win and being able to gain local peoples trust and con-fidence in him led him to his success – a fighter in his own right.

By professionMizan is a Civil Servantworking in theDepartment for Ed-ucation. Before his election to Council, he was a Ministerial Secretaryunder the Labour Government from 2003-2010 and during this timehe hasworkedwith high rankingGovernmentMinisters andMembersof Parliament.Prior to being elected as the Chair of Council (CivicMayor), MizanwasOlympic Ambassador of TowerHamlets,Member of theCouncil’s AuditCommittee, Appeals Committee, Human Resources Committee andthe General Purpose Committee, which he is still a member of.The role of Chair of Council (Civic Mayor) is an important element ofthe council’s governance structure. It is the highest office that residents,through their elected representatives, can grant a Member of theCouncil. Mizanwas formally appointed to theOffice at the first meet-ing of the Council in this Municipal Year - 18th May 2011.Mizan is known in the community as a principled talented brave youngman with conviction and love for his community – he wants to do thebest for everyone and inspire young people to get active in politics andthe community. He is the youngest Civic Mayor (Chair of Council) tobe elected in Tower Hamlets to the Chain of Office – a rising star of thecommunity.

Cllr MizanurRahmanChaudhury

SECTOR:Politics

Mr Chaudhury was the only British Bangladeshi Councillor inNorthamptonshire until the recent election on 5th May. While hewas pursuing his Career to become a Barrister in the University ofNorthampton his interest in Politics prevailed.Therefore Mr Chaudhury joined the Liberal Democrats and wassuccessful in winning his seat in the Borough Council Election on5th May 2007.

His family moved to Northamptonshire in the early 1970's and hehimself has been a permanent resident of Northampton for over 20years. He is a former Executive Committee Member of the (NBA)Northampton Bangladeshi Association and has been involved withthe organisation for many years. He is currently undergoing trainingas a prospective Parliamentary Candidate and is actively involved inpolitics and has assistedmany young British Bangladeshi in gettinginvolved with mainstream politics.

He is a young, vibrant and dynamic Community Activist, who isthe first point of contact for Bangladeshi people in Northampton.He is also known for his involvement in football and other sportingactivities for the last 16 years.

He is the first ethnic minority person appointed by the Secretary ofState for Planning as a Committee Member of WNDC (WestNorthamptonshire Development Corporation). He is involved in themajor development and extension of the University of Northamp-ton, Northampton College, Northampton Cricket Club and SouthNorthamptonshire. He has receivedmany prestigious local and na-tional awards and recognition from various organisations for hisrelentless community and charity work. One of which was raisingsome £5,000 for Northampton General Hospital, which has re-sulted in him being highly recognised by the NHS for his work.

Mr Prince Sadik Chaudhury has also written several articles for thelocal Chronicle & Echo newspaper as well as the NorthamptonshireBBCwebsite, presenting his views and attitudes towards some veryimportant issues. His articles for the Northamptonshire BBC still re-main in existence on the website.People in Northampton are very pleased to have a former Council-lor in Northampton who is climbing the ladder of success in a veryshort span of time successfully.This year Mr Prince Sadik Chaudhury was honoured by The HerMajesty Queen for his prolong community work and he was firstBritish-Bangladesh person from Northamptonshire was invited toBuckingham Palace. He is always demonstrated his commitment tothe local community and has always been involved in various ac-tivities and frameworks to build racial and social harmony amongthe wider community. Surely he is a role model for the Asian com-munity in Northampton.

Prince SadikChoudhury

SECTOR:Politics



Cllr Salim Chowdhury resides in Har-row, Middlesex. He hails from the villageof Nogrikhapon, Goala Bazar, Sylhet. Heis the son of Abdul Motin Chowdhuryand Hafsa Chowdhury.

Cllr Salim completed his A-Levels in theUnited Kingdom before achieving a B.Adegree in Hospitality and Management.He has an illustrious record of businessownership, which includes being the pro-prietor or various restaurants and alsobeing Director of General Auto Services.

Cllr Chowdhury also served as a PoliceOfficer for the Metropolitan Police for aperiod of five years from 1995.

Cllr Chowdhury was elected as a Coun-cillor for Harrow Council in 2006. He isthe Founder Executive Member of Con-servative Friends of Bangladesh as well asbeing a Member of both the Conserva-tive Muslim Forum and British Asian Con-servative link. He is well connected withthe Conservative party and various or-ganisations affiliated to the party.

Moreover, Salim Chowdhury served asChief Whip of Harrow Council from2006 to 2008 and was a deputy cabinetmember from 2007 to 2009.Aside from his association with politcs,Cllr Chowdhury remains closely con-nected with local and community basedinitiatives. He was Elected Senior ViceChair of Probashi Balagonj EducationTrust until 2007. He is an Executive mem-ber of the Bangladesh Caterers Associa-tion (BCA) and Co-ordinator of Guild ofBangladeshi Restaurateurs. Furthermore,Cllr Chowdhury serves as President ofMiddlesex Jubo League and is a Trusteeof Harrow Bangladeshi Association.

There are numerous other organisationswith which Cllr Salim Chowdhury takesan active role in. He has also donated toseveral charities, which he continues todo so on a regular basis, and has fundeda school hall in his village in Bangladesh.

Salim is married to Jasmine Chowdhurywho has a BSc Honours degree. The cou-ple have two children.

Cllr Salim Chowdhury

SECTOR:Politics and variousbusinesses

In 1975, at the age of 9, Sanawar, thefirst son of a headmaster, came to theUK under a settlement VISA to join hisfather (Late) Al-Hajj MohammedShafiqul Islam Choudhury, accompaniedby his mother Shamsun Nehar andbrother Soiful.

Since then Sanawar has earned an uppersecond BD (Hons) Degree in Accountingand Finance (1989), qualified as a Char-tered Accountants with Price Water-house Coopers (1992) and has beenawarded a PhD in Accounting from Uni-versity (2005) – after submitting a doc-toral thesis entitled ‘ Cash FlowReporting in the UK: Perceptions, Prac-tices and Problems’, the culmination ofsix years research on the topic.

In 2001 Sanawar settled his young fam-ily in Dhaka and joined Bangladesh Bankas an International Consultant advisingon corporate reporting, financial riskmanagement and internal control.Sanawar worked with and for the Gov-ernor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr Fakhrud-din Ahmed and Dr Sallehuddin Ahmeduntil 2006 when he returned to the UKwith his wife Nasima, daughter Nazmaand sons Shaheenur, Shajahan andShafiul.

During his career Sanawar has under-taken consultancy assignments both inthe UK, Europe and the Middle East,working mainly in financial risk manage-ment and corporate reporting.

Sanawar currently runs a number of suc-cessful businesses that extend from Profes-sional Training to Property to the largestCharteredAccountancy firmof Bangladeshiorigin in the UK, RCi Chartered Account-ants and Registered Auditors.

In 2008 Sanawar with other notablemembers of the NRB community in Eu-rope launched the European BangladeshFederation of Commerce and Industry(EBF) and became one of its sevenfounding executive directors. EBF is amulti-lateral trade federation establishedto promote and encourage trade, invest-ment and business relations between Eu-rope and Bangladesh and betweenNRB’s within the European Union.

Dr SanawarChoudhuryBA (Hons), FCA, PhD(Exon)

SECTOR:Finance and CommunityRelations



Kalam Mahmud Abu Taher Choud-hurywas born in a traditional Moulana fam-ily in Ita Sinkapon, Moulvibazar. He is theyoungest son of HafizMoulana Abdul QaderChoudhury Sinkaponi (R), who was arenowned spiritual leader and Islamic scholarin Bangladesh.As a promising student leader, he was theGeneral Secretary of the Chattra League,Kashinat Alauddin High School branch,Moul-vibazar, in 1969 and played an active role inthe Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

Professionally, Mr Chowdhury is an engineer,tutor and a very well-known journalist. Hewas a correspondent and staff reporter forthe weekly Jugaberi and Deshbarta, two ofthe oldest newspapers published from Sylhet.Likewise, he worked with other newspapersand Sylhet radio for a lengthy period.As an established journalist in the UK, MrChoudhury was a Special Correspondent ofthe Weekly Jonomoth and Editor of themonthly Dawat. He was also the FounderChief Editor and Chairman of the first-everbilingual weekly newspaper, Euro Bangla.Currently, he is the Chief Editor of the weeklyBangla Post, Editor of the weekly LondonBangla, Chairman of the weekly Bangla Mir-ror’s Advisory Board and an Advisory Editorof the Dhaka Post. Additionally, he is thePresident of the Bangladesh Journalist Asso-

ciation UK. The ‘community heartbeat’, MrChoudhury, was an elected ex-Chairpersonand General Secretary of the Greater SylhetCouncil in UK for two consecutive terms, andis currently a patron. He is the Secretary ofVoice for Justice UK and holds presidentialposts at Renaissance Sahitya Mojlish UK and

New Hope Multi Cultural Trust. Mr Choud-hury is also the Chairman of the Cancer Pa-tients Poor Help Fund and Convenor of theCampaign for Press Freedom in Bangladesh.He is similarly serving as a Senior Vice Chair-man for the Organisation for the Recognitionof Bangla as an Official Language in the UN.Last but nomeans least, he is an Advisor andTrustee of the Goreeb & Eatheem Trust fundand Advisor of the Aid & Care Trust.Mr Choudhury has been a Parent Governorfor 12 years. He has been working as an em-ployee of the Tower Hamlets Council for thepast 26 years. In May 2003, he was awardedthe Civic Award from the Tower HamletsCouncil, the Channel ‘S’ Award, CommunityLeadership Award from the Black Ethnic Mi-nority in UK, Best Leader Award from theUnited States of America, British-BangladeshiWho’s Who award, theWBA Award and theNWT Award for his invaluable contributionto the community. He was also awarded theLanguageMemorial Gold Award fromDhakaand the Dhaka Post Award. In July 1997,Prince Charles invited him to a reception atSt James Palace. He has also been invited tothe Queen’s Royal Garden Party at Bucking-ham Palace.Mr Choudhury is a tireless campaigner fornoble causes of the community and againstthe injustice in today’s society. He is also a lov-ing father of 8 children.

Mr Enam-Ul Haque Chowdhurywas born andstudied in Bangladesh before arriving to the UK in1986 to study Business Management at LutonUniversity. After completing his studies he movedto Swindon to gain business experience with hisfather in law at his restaurant (The KhyberEst.1962).

Realising his ambitionswithin the catering industryMr Chowdhury opened his first restaurant in1991, the Ganges Indian takeaway, which be-came an instant hit within the locals in the area.This gave him the inspiration and confidence toopen his second business, the Ganges IndianRestaurant in 1993.The business has won manyawards and accolades.Mr Chowdhury’s varied business interests includecatering, investment and property developmentin the United Kingdom and Bangladesh. He is thefounder ofMIJ groupwhich business includesMIJInternational Investment, MIJ Catering and MIJProperties. He is one of the Directors of the fivestars hotel Dhaka Regency located in Dhaka,Bangladesh.

He is the founder of Thahiria Mohila Academy(Titel) in Shahbagh, Zakigonj, Sylhet, Bangladesh.An Executivemember ofWootton Bassett Cham-ber of Comererce, A member of Wiltshire Busi-ness club, an Executive Director of UK-BangladeshBusiness Council (UKBBC), The life member ofLondon Bangla Press Club, National ExecutiveMember of Bangladesh Catering Association, ac-tive member of Conservative party, member of

conservative Muslim forum and a member ofBritish Asian Conservative Link. He is a memberand actively involved in the international RotaryClub, he has assisted in various charitable projectin U.K and Bangladesh. Beforemoving to the U.Khe was joint secretary and actively involved in theRotary club of Sylhet and Dhaka in Bangladesh.He is a member of William J. Clinton PresidentialFoundation Millennium Network. He is a civiliansponsor for International student of DEFENCEACADEMY of The United Kingdom since 1999.

In 2009 Enamwith other high profilemembers ofthe Non Resident Bangladeshi (NRB) communityfrom UK, Europe, Canada, USA, Africa and Mid-dleast created the NRB Worldwide Foundation(nrbwf.org)which is a non-profit, non-partisan or-ganisation focused on the development and pro-motion of the knowledge and skills as a commonbase for intellectual exchange to support the en-richment of Bangladesh.MrChowdhury has been awarded the Special Cit-izen Privilege Category” A” (CIP) from the Gov-ernment of Bangladesh. He has attended manyinternational seminars and conferences includingone in October 2009 titled ‘IDEAS and INNOVA-TION for the Development of Bangladesh: THENEXTDECADE’ at HARVARDUNIVERSITY, Boston,USA. He met various head of states, leaders andacademics including USA president Bill Clinton.He is a member of the Wiltshire Golf Club.Mr Chowdhury has been married for many yearsto Jasmin Chowdhury the couple have beenblessed with three sons.

Mr Enam-Ul HaqueChowdhury

SECTOR:Business/Philanthropist

KMAbuTaher Choudhury

SECTOR:Media and Community Relations



Aziz Choudhury is the Director of Monte-fiore Centre under which thirteen organisa-tions are based providing training and otherimportant services to the community. Hehas held this post since 2001.

Prior to his current position, Mr Choudhurywas Managing Director of Otherwords Ltd,and from 1995 to 1999 he was Chief Exec-utive of Bengali Workers Association. Hewas responsible for overseeing the runningof several local projects in Camden, includ-ing the Surma community centre.

In the mid eighties, Aziz Choudhury was Fi-nance Director for Spitalfields Housing As-sociation, a position he maintained for adecade. In his early career he was an ac-countant and worked for various accreditedaccountancy firms.

Mr Choudhury has a host of qualifications.He obtained his BSc in Physics, Chemistry &Mathematics from Dhaka University in1967. He Studied Accountancy at the Lon-don School of Accountancy.1972—73.Moreover, he is an Associate member of In-stitute of Financial Accountants and has Fel-low Membership of Institute of Financial

Accountants as well as achieving CommonPurpose Community Leadership Graduationin 1992.

Mr Choudhury has been involved in severalcommunity and voluntary initiatives both inthe United Kingdom and in Bangladesh.These include being involved with Spital-fields Small Business Association, East Lon-don Small Business Centre, East LondonBusiness Alliance and he has been a PMGmember of the Tower Hamlets Partnership.Other involvement includes being activelyenagaged with Bangla Housing Associa-tion.

In Bangladesh Aziz Choudhury founded theJalalpur College in Sylhet and he is a trusteeand General Secretary of Rosae Trust, whichraises funds to support a hospital in Dhaka.

Mr Aziz Choudhury is married to HeimaChoudhury. They have two sons, the eldestson Ashike is a Doctor for the NHS andyoungest son Siraj is a Solicitor doe LocalGovernment, with a Masters Degree intown planning.

Aziz Choudhury

SECTOR:Community Relations andVoluntar

Mohibuddin Choudhury came to theUnited Kingdom with his parents at the ageof fourteen in 1973.

Mr Mohibuddin Choudhury opened his firstbusiness in 1977, a restaurant named‘Akash’ in Maida Vale, West London. Hesubsequently became involved with themedia and is one of the Founding Directorsof Notun Din. He is currently the Editor ofthe weekly Notun Din a Bengali languagenewspaper based in London.

Moreover, Mr Choudhury is the FounderPresident of the London Bangla Press Club,which was inaugurated in 1994. This organ-isation represents most of the Bangladeshimedia in the United Kingdom. Mr Choud-hury has also been recently elected as Pres-ident of the British Bangla Chamber ofCommerce- London region.

Mohibuddin Choudhury has been involvedin several other community and charity or-ganisations. He is one of the FounderTrustees & present chairman of BritishBangla Jaggannathpur Education Trustbased in the UK, which is one of the mostsuccessful organisations, that financiallysupports and encourages poor students in

relation to advancing their education. Fur-thermore, he is one of the Founder Trusteeof Kolkoli Shahjalal College, Syedpur Col-lege and Bibiana College in Bangladesh.

Mr Choudhury is a well-known and re-spected media personality and businessmanand has supported many organisationsworking for the greater interest of theBritish Bangladeshi community.He is married with six children all of whomreside in the family home in Redbridge.

MohibuddinChoudhury

SECTOR:Media



One of Britain’s most respected personalities ofBangladeshi origin isAhmed Us Samad Chowd-hurywho came to Britain in 1972 to further his ed-ucation. He was the first Asian Origin StudentUnion President in Bristol. In business, communitydevelopment and media Mr Chowdhury has beena driving force for which he is much loved.

Mr Chowdhury was the Editor and Publisher of“Potrika”, Britain’s popular Bengali newspaper -published from London. Mr Chowdhury is also theChairman of Channel S Television; a Bengali lan-guage broadcast media and one of the mostwatched ethnic channels in Europe.A Fellow of the Institute of Sales Marketing Man-agement, Fellow of the Chartered Institute ofMan-agement, and Fellow of the Institute of HospitalityMr Chowdhury is the owner of the Awardwinningrestaurant Rajpoot in Bath and a number of otherrestaurants in Bath and Bristol. Mr Chowdhury isalso in the property business and trades as “LondonProperty Partnership”. In Bangladesh Mr Chowd-hury is also a property developer (Paragon PropertyLtd.) and currently building 500 apartments for theex-patriots in Sylhet. Also he is co owner ofKushiara Compsite Knit Industries in Dhaka,Bangladesh.A 100% export orientated industry earning vitalforeign currency for Bangladesh.In 1988 as the Head of the Bangladesh Association(Bristol, Bath &West) andCommunity Integration inmind, Mr Chowdhury founded the BangladeshWomen’s Group in Bristol and then in 1990founded the Bangladesh House.This building is used as a drop in centre to get ad-

vice and information on housing, welfare etc. In1993 he founded Bangladesh Centre in Bristol; thiswas aimed to cater for the needs of the Women’sGroup and Youth activities. In 1998Mr Chowdhurystarted the project to establish South West’s onlypurpose built mosque. Today Shahjalal JameMosque is complete, costing £1million.Mr Chowd-hury serves as the Trustee of Bangladesh Associa-tion and Shahjalal Jame Mosque Trust. Locally MrChowdhury raised funds for the Royal United Hos-pital and has helped numerous charities. He hasserved as a Governor at City of Bath College, Na-tional Steering Committee Member for HospitalityTraining Foundation to make NVQ/SVQ qualifica-tions more accessible, National Advisor New Deal(Ethnic Minority Group). Mr Chowdhury is one ofthe Founders and Regional President of BangladeshBritish Chamber of Commerce. He played a vitalpart in establishing UK Bangladesh Education Trust,Founder Chairman of Britain- Bangladesh Friend-ship Society and is also involvedwithmany nationaland International organisations, with a number ofthem he acts as an advisor. He is also a life memberof The Commonwealth Judges andMagistrates As-sociation.

In year 2000, Mr Chowdhury was the driving forcein establishing the Immigration Advisory Service(IAS) office in Sylhet, Bangladesh (the only officeoutside Britain). Mr Chowdhury serves as the Chair-man of the IAS – Sylhet Advisory Committee. Hehelped to establish a Children’s Hospital, CycloneShelter, Orphanage and a Hospital for the Disabledand Paralysed and many educational institutions inBangladesh.

Ahmed Us SamadChowdhuryJP, FISMM, FCMI, FIH

SECTOR:Media, Charity, Business

China Chowdhury has been an establisheddance artist and choreographer for morethan 20 years. She has an extensive knowl-edge in Indian classical, modern and BengaliFolk dance. China has not only worked inBangladesh but has worked in the UK andwith her dance expertise has travelledacross the world to many countries such asJapan, Italy, Sweden, Thailand, Egypt andPakistan to name but a few. She gained herdance expertise in Bangladesh and was thegovernment staff artist with the BangladeshShilpa Kala Academy.

China has worked in numerous Londonschools as a dance instructor and also as adance teacher in primary schools such asBlue Gate Field Junior School, Thomas Bux-ton School and has worked as a part timedance instructor for the Asian Art Organi-sation in Newham and at the Indian Com-munity Centre in London.

Since the formation of the Boishaki MelaCommittee she has been involved withthem and helped and supported the initia-tive. She continues to work with children oflocal communities all over the UK. She hasbeen delivering training facilities on Chore-ography to the young people in Tower

Hamlets. Over the last seven years she hasbeen working with the Bangladeshi HighCommission in different ways. Adding tothis she has been involved in the EdinburghFestival in Scotland and Choreographer tothe Indian Movie ‘Golapi Akhon Bilete’.

China Chowdhury is the founder and Man-aging director of ‘Taal Torongo’, anorganisation whose members give wide-spread and varied performances all over theUK and Europe and have performed at theBoisaki Mela for the last decade.

She is a regular face on the Bangladeshi TVchannels and is now performing on the UKBengali language Channels, and this has ledher to take part in several prestigious inter-national events showcasing her dance andperforming talents.

China Chowdhury

SECTOR:Arts and Entertainment



Shetu Choudhury has been actively in-volved in performing arts since youth. Hehas performed on a voluntary and profes-sional level in the UK; he has played keyroles in performing live stage drama. He isthe founder and chairperson of the DeshTheatre, based in London. He has alsofounded the first ever Bangla radio show inIpswich, Suffolk, ICR Bangla 105.7fm, aswell as being the founder, he is also the pre-senter. Shetu has successfully been spread-ing Bengali culture across England fornearly 2 decades, particularly for the secondgeneration of British Bangladeshis. He isone of the organisers for the ‘1 big multi-cultural festival’ to take place in Ipswich.

Since 1985 Shetu has been enlisted to per-form and news read for Sylhet radio. Shetuhas also been a presenter for Betar BanglaRadio, London; and Radio Bangla. He was aChannel S presenter and a model for TV ad-vertisements. He has played parts in severalshort films which were shown on Channel4. Shetu has appeared on telefilms for var-ious Bengali channels, additionally he hasbeen the voiceover for the Heart Founda-tion; Childcare; Royal Air Force; and manymore. He is the director of creation media

based in east London. He preferred to direct& perform in stage plays. Besides he is alsothe cultural secretary for the Sylhet CityClub UK and a freelance journalist. He usedto be a parent governor for John Scurr Pri-mary School. In addition he is the Ambas-sador for the charity organisation calledInsaan Aid in UK and is the advisor for Ip-swich Bangladeshi cultural group.

Shetu ‘s notable achievement include theATN Bangla Media Award for the best Ben-gali Actor in the UK in 2004 alongside thebest TV advert personality award UK in2006. He represents the modern day BritishBangla grassroots Ambassador

Shetu Choudhury

SECTOR:Arts

Shafiqur Rahman Choudhury is the MP ofBiswanath-Balaganj-Osmaninogor electedin 2008. He is the President of BangladeshWelfare Association in Britain, a prominentbusinessman and social worker. He is amember of parliamentary standing commit-tee on Ministry of civil aviation & tourism,Privatization Commission & Syndicate mem-ber of Sylhet agriculture University.

Mr Choudhury was born in 1957 inBiswanath, Sylhet to the prominent com-munity leader Al-Haj Abdul Matlib Choud-hury and Latifunnesa Choudhury. ShafiqurRahman Choudhury gained his BA from Syl-het Government College. He got involvedwith student politics from school days, andwas an active member of the LiberationWar.

Mr Choudhury came to Britain in 1978 andgot involved in the UK Awami League activ-ities and played an important role in organ-ising the workers all over the UK. He playedpivotal roles in movements against autoc-racy and demanding the trial of war crimi-nals.He also played an improvement with theBangladeshi youth organisations in a com-mon platform to form the UK Youth Feder-

ation. As a president of Bangladesh WelfareAssociation, he took effort to resolve theproblems regarding the visa system of theBangladeshis with British passport, traveltax, problems regarding Biman and SonaliBank. He formed the Probashi Action Com-mittee as a protest against the harassmentof the non-residents in Bangladesh. TheCommittee arranged a protest in Hyde Parkand in front of the Bangladesh Mission.

Mr Choudhury is a trustee of theBangladesh Centre and a founder-convenorof the Martyrs’ Day Observation Commit-tee. This Committee has been observing theMartyrs’ Day in different parts of London.Mr Choudhury also played important role inbuilding the Language-Martyrs’ Tomb inAltab Ali Park. He is also involved with Na-jrul Centre and Tower Hamlets Law Centreto name but a few.

Mr Choudhury got married in 1985 to Tah-mina Akhtar Choudhury. They have threechildren, who are studying in London.

Sha:qur RahmanChoudhury

SECTOR:Politics



Cllr Ayesha Chowdhury arrived in Britain with her parents atthe age of 16. Besides learning English, she helped her fatherwith his community work. In 1991 she found herself taking acourse in Construction, at Newham Community College, shecompleted the Diploma in 1993.

She then enrolled at Goldsmiths College, University of London,to study Youth, Community and Social work, eventually obtain-ing a Masters Degree in Applied Anthropology, Youth & Com-munity Work. Cllr Chowdhury began to recognise thatwhatever she did she was limited by the confines of policy.Therefore she felt that the decision-making process had to beinfluenced if real change was to be attempted. As a result ofthis she got involved with politics.

Outside her role as a councillor in Newham, Ayesha Chowdhuryis a successful businesswoman. She is a property developer andalso Director of London Green Management Company Ltd. Shehas previously worked as a Centre Manager in Newham, a So-cial Worker for Tower Hamlets and has co-ordinated projectsin different boroughs. Aside from politics and business, she isalso committed to various local, national and transnational or-ganisations. She has been heavily involved in fundraising activ-ities in the UK to support various rural areas across the globe.Her participation in community initiatives consist of being inthe consultative committee of London City Airport. She retainsmembership in the Newham Community Police Forum andSchool Organisation committee.

Other past and present commitments include being a commit-tee member of Beckton Community Forum, Building Schoolsfor Future and Mayoral Advisor. Amongst her most prestigiousvoluntary association she is a committee member for twoScrutiny Commission for Community Cohesion and ChildPoverty, two integral issues which society faces in the presentclimate. Her interests include Human Rights, politics as well asenvironmental and social issues. She is fluent in several lan-guages including Bengali, English, Urdu, Hindi and is currentlymaintaining her interest in foreign languages by learning a Eu-ropean language.She is a family woman, married with two children.

Cllr AyeshaChowdhury

SECTOR:Politics

At the age of 16Mamun co founded a football team Beau-mont Athletic FC. Mamun started his career with Beaumontas the secretary of the club, later he took on the manager’srole and became one of the youngest Bangladeshi managersin Tower hamlets. He led the club to many successes as amanager, winning league titles, competitions and variouscups, most notably the UK Bangladeshi championship in2005. He still manages the 1st team and is one of the mostexperienced managers around in the borough. He has hiscoaching badge with the FA. Mamun also took on additionalroles within the club to steer it towards more success, mostnotable ones in 2001 when he got the club intermediate sta-tus and in 2006 getting the charter standard mark and seniorclub status allowing the club to play at senior level footballand the FA cup.

Mamun remarkable work as a volunteer continues outsidehis club as he is the only individual to have carried out yearsof volunteer services to all the managers to all major volun-teer organization in the borough from 2001 to present.Mamun still does work with other organizations to organizeevents and also organizes regular tours abroad for his club.

Mamun, in March 2009, was appointed manager of Kentsenior league team Sporting Bengal the senior club in theborough. Mamun also managed his beloved club BeaumontFC in the tournaments and the summer league.

Mamun’s work has not gone unnoticed as he has receivedmany awards for his hard work. In 2001 he was awarded theVolunteer Award by Stepney Voice newspaper, in 2005 hewon the Jack Petchey Leaders Award, in 2006 he won theCanary Wharf volunteer award and in 2008 he was awardedthe Tower Hamlets Civic Award and now a MBE.

Mamun RashidChowdhuryMBE

SECTOR:Community Relationsand Voluntary



Matiar Rahman Chowdhury, a journalistand a researcher, was born in Sylhet. He isfrom Noorgaon (Puradia), Upazila Nabiganj,Hobiganj district. He completed his primaryeducation in the Maktab of his village. Hestudied MA in Islamic History at the Univer-sity of Rajshahi following the completion ofSSC and HSC from Sylhet Model High Schooland Modon Mohon College respectively.

He started his career in journalism as a corre-spondent of Jugoveri. Since then, he workedwith various newspapers, magazines and pe-riodicals both in Bangladesh and the UK. Heis currently working as the UK correspondentof NNB, a news agency of Bangladesh.Matiar Chowdhury regularly writes columnsand articles for the newspapers of the UK,America, India and Bangladesh.Matiar Chowdhury is the pioneer of develop-ing the Sylheti language in the UK. He has agood contribution in inventing the SylhetiNagri font for computer. He established SylhetiResearch and Translation Centre in the UK.He presented his findings on Sylheti lan-guage in several seminars in Bangladesh,India, France, Germany, United States, Swe-den, Switzerland and in the Middle East. Hetranslated the scripts of films i.e. Jesus, Ren-son and Bedel from English to Sylheti Lan-

guage. A United States based Organisation‘Interact’ awardedMr. Matiar in 1997 for hisoutstanding contributions in translation.

Books he has published are NabiganjerItikatha (1985), Noupothe Nabik (1983),Kushiarar Baake (1981), Sylhet Bichitra(1990), Sylhet Guide(1989), Sylhet O SylhetiBhasha(1999), Sylheti Bhasha Shikshar Boi(1998- 2000), Ten Sylheti Poem (1998-Trans-lated), Yuktorajye Sylhetbashi (Yet to be pub-lished) References from the books of MatiarChowdhury have been mentioned in morethen fifty books of Bangla Academy, IslamicFoundation and other publishing companies.Mr. Chowdhury is closely engaged with So-cial activities. He used to be the Publicity andPublication Secretary of Yuktorajya GonodabiParishad (1995-1997). He is engaged withGreater Sylhet Development and WelfareCouncil, Habiganj Association, founder chair-man of Sylhet Academy UK and Europe,Founder Trustee and vice president of Nabi-ganj Education Trust, Joint Convenor of Inat-ganj Thana Bastabayan Committee andSarba Europeo Bangabandhu Parishad. He isalso a life member of Bangladesh Red Cres-cent Society and Muslim Sahitya Sangsad,Sylhet. He is married to Junia Begum withfour sons.

Matiar Chowdhury

SECTOR:Media (Journalist)

Matiur Rahman Chowdhury is an execu-tive member of the London Bangla PressClub. The News Editor for Euro BanglaNewspaper has quickly established himselfas a valuable member of the organisationsince arriving from Bangladesh. Born in Ku-laura, Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh,Mr Chowdhury completed his education inBangladesh before moving to the UK.

He attended the local high school in Ku-laura, Moulvibazar where he completed hisS.S.C examinations and progressed on toMoulvibazar’s Komolgonj College to com-plete his H.S.C studies. He completed bothhis BSS and MSS in Political Science fromDhaka University.

After completing his masters, Mr Chowd-hury joined BRAC’s research evaluation de-partment and was based at theorganisations head office in Mohakali-Dhaka. Later he was employed as a Re-gional Sales Manager for the MeghnaGroup and predominately based in Sylhet,Dhaka and Chittagong. Mr Chowdhury wasa lecturer of Political Science at Moul-vibazar’s Bhatera College in Kulaura beforemoving to the UK.

Once in the UK, Mr Chowdhury worked inthe marketing industry and was recruited bythe Euro Bangla Newspaper to help improvetheir sales and soon worked his way upthrough consistently working hard andlearning new skills to the position of NewsEditor. Presently, he is working in WeeklyPotrika as a sub editor. In addition to his fulltime role in print media, Mr Chowdhury isengaged in various non-profit social welfareorganisations.

He was the founder Secretary of UdoyacholJonokollan Songsta project in Kulaura,Moulzibazar, Bangladesh, as well as a JointSecretary of Kulaura Chatro Kollyan Songstain Dhaka. Mr Chowdhury was also a mem-ber of Dhaka’s Jalalabad Association.

Mr Chowdhury has two brothers and fivesisters and is married with one son. For theforeseeable future, the Euro Bangla NewsEditor wants to continue helping the pooras well as developing more educationalprojects in Bangladesh.

Matiur RahmanChowdhury

SECTOR:Media



The prominent businessman Mr RanaMiah Choudhury was born in AmbiaVilla, Anontopur R/A Hobigonj. His fa-ther was Abdul Monnan Choudhury andmother was Ambia Khatun. He came tothe UK since 1981.

Mr Choudhury is a self employed busi-nessman and has the following busi-nesses: Sonar Gaw Restaurant;Purbobhag International and the RoyalSuite in Perry Barr, Birmingham.

Mr Choudhury is also renowned as a per-son working relentlessly for the better-ment of community. Working in avoluntary capacity he has been helpingto interpret and translate; going to meet-ings with people; writing letters; as wellas supporting the setting up and runningof several community groups. He is pas-sionate about the community and en-couraging integration into the British wayof life without forgetting the Bangladeshiheritage and culture. He is a Chair of theHabigianj Society for the Midlands, andVice Chair of the Guild of BangladeshiCaterers in the Midlands.Mr Choudhury is a committee member

of various Bangladeshi Organisations in-cluding: Walsall Bangladeshi Societywhere he works as a trained volunteerand peer mentor helping others with in-formation, advice and guidance. He hasorganised a number of community fundraising events and in 2008 was involvedin donating £10,000 to Habigianj Dia-betic Hospital.

For his social service, in 2006 he wasrecognised with an Award from theMayor of Tower Hamlets Council for allthe community works he had done overmany years.

Mr Choudhury has a great interest andpassion to help the community and inparticular families from Bangladesh whohave settled into the UK. He has workedhard to engage with the community tounderstand what its real needs are, andthe help individuals require.

Mr Choudhury is married to Rina Begum,and they have two sons and two daugh-ters. The family live in Birmingham.

RanaMiah Chowdhury

SECTOR:Business

Shamim is a seasoned television andprint journalist, currently working for therenowned international broadcaster, AlJazeera English, where she performs anumber of prominent roles, includingnews editing, producing and occasionalreporting. Her previous television experi-ence includes work at the BBC, ITN andSky News.

She has also written for many of Britain’snational newspapers, including The DailyExpress, The Daily Mail, The Daily Tele-graph and, most recently, comment andopinion for The Independent. The presti-gious political journal, The New States-man, has also recently expressed interestin her as a contributing writer.

Shamim has a BSc from Queen Mary Uni-versity, an MSc from Birkbeck College anda post-graduate diploma in newspaperjournalist from City University, London.

Aside from her work, Shamim has anumber of passions. She has training inshotokan karate for a number of yearsand enjoys cooking, literature and thearts. But her greatest passion is travellingand she has travelled to many parts ofthe world, including relatively unexplored

parts Cambodia, Syria, the Middle Eastand Africa.

She has been involved in a number ofleading charities, and on one occasionher fund-raising efforts resulted in herhelping build a community centre for vil-lagers in a remote part of Cambodia.

She is fiercely proud of her Bangladeshi,and more especially Sylheti, heritage andpreviously had her own column at the Eng-lish-medium newspaper for theBangladeshi community, The BanglaMirror.

Shamim Chowdhury

SECTOR:media.



Tareq Chowdhury is well known in theBangladeshi Community as a Journalist. Heis also an immigration expert and a Barris-ter. He is the editor of weekly Bangla Post,the first Bengali newspaper in the UKnewsagent.

Born in Sylhet and brought up in Habigonj.His ancestral home is in Zakiganj upozilla inSylhet district. Fifth son of Mr. MuhamedAbdun Nur Chowdhury, the retired HeadMaster of Shaistaganj High School and for-mer central president of Bangladesh Teach-ers association. His father was also headexaminer of physics of Comilla EducationBoard for around 20 years.

Tareq Chowdhury took his Secondary andhigher secondary education at Shaistaganj.He migrated to United Kingdom to study.He completed LLB honours at Wolverhamp-ton University in 2002 followed by the BarVocational Course in 2003 from Northum-bria University and was called to the Bar bythe Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.

He has been involved with the media since1991 with Dainik Janata and he workedwith Daily Star as University correspondentand contributor. He was the senior reporter

of recently defunct Daily Bangladesh in UKand also contributed in various weekly inUK including Bangla Mirror. He contributedin almost all newspapers in Rajshahi in the1990s and many dailies and weeklies inDhaka.He was also a dedicated scout since he wasat school and carried on after he went touniversity. He attended many scouts campsand Jamboree. In order to receive the pres-ident scout award, he took part in the 100mile rambling from Rajshahi to Sirajgonj.

He has also earned reputation as a TV pre-senter with Local TV Channels on Legal andpolitical programmes in London.He has leadership abilities as he was thepresident of Rajshahi University Press club.Secretary of University Rotaract club and hewas the elected student representative tothe honourable society of Lincoln’s Inn fromNorthumbria University during his Bar Vo-cational Course.

He is married to Rezia Choudhury who isworking as Intelligence Researcher for theBritish Transport Police in London.

Tareq Chowdhury

SECTOR:Legal andMedia

Golam Mostafa Faruk MA (MM) is Son ofM Taru Boksh a retired police officer, villagePathan Para, Sylhet City Corporation Hestarted his journalism career in 1987 whilehe was a student at MC College in Sylhet.While in college he entered a government-arranged competition, which was the na-tional week of teaching and became thefirst in the Sylhet region and gained achance to be part of the Chittagong Divi-sion. Apart from studying he was also in-volved with charity work and work involvingsocial economic development inBangladesh.He was also the Chair of the central bodyfor one of Sylhet’s wellknown organisations‘Dhakin Surma Shomaj Kollan Shomity’. Hewas the editor of the magazine for the stu-dent union in his college and has edited tendifferent magazines for different organiza-tions in the UK and in Bangladesh. Also wasthe Secretary General for Jalalabad JuboForum Sylhet Sodor and was the Press andPublicity Secretary for Sylhet Sodor Associa-tion UK. Has worked in several papers in Syl-het and Dhaka. Arrived in London in 1991.Also worked as senior staff reporter atWeekly Janamot for five years. Brieflyworked for Weekly Surma newspaper priorto working for weekly Janamot.

He was the presenter for ‘Shuprobat Britain’on Bangla TV London, which was a weeklyBengali newspaper review programme forfive years, and was involved with special oc-casional reporting from London for wellknown TV channels Ekushey TV, NTV andATN Bangla in Bangladesh.

He is the London correspondent for theDaily Jugantor newspaper in Bangladeshsince 2001, also is the London correspon-dent of the Weekly Probashi newspaper ofAmerica and Austria’s Euroshongbad. Hehas been the treasurer for Bangladesh Jour-nalist Association UK and was also the SocialWelfare and Entertainment Secretary forLondon Bangla Press Club for the firstelected committee and received the majorityvotes amongst the competitors. He is alsothe Bengali section’s editor of the well-known Spice Business magazine in the UK.

He currently teaching at Kingsford Commu-nity Secondary School & Language Collegein East London as a Bengali and Urduteacher. He is married with two children.

GulamMostafa Faruk




Shahagir Bakth Faruk was born in Sunamganj, Bangladesh.His late father Alhaj Shah Bakth, was a retired Bank Officer, hisyounger brother Humayun is a Brigadier General in theBangladesh Army, and his eldest sister, Dr Saleha Khatun wasthe first women medical doctor in her home town of Sunam-ganj. Faruk was a lecturer of Physics in Sunamganj College be-fore arriving in London in 1973.He established the ShahnanEmployment & Training Bureau, which was the first Bangladeshiemployment and training centre in the East End of London.

Faruk is also the first Bangladeshi trainer who provides food hy-giene training, health and safety training and HACCP trainingfor all sorts of food handlers in a diverse range of premises. Heis also an accredited trainer of the internationally recognisedChartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), Royal Soci-ety of Public Health (RSPH), Meat and Livestock Commission(MLC) and Welcome Host. He is an author of the book called“Food Hygiene”.Apart from entrepreneurship, Faruk has made a considerablepolitical contribution to the mainstream of British politics. He isinvolved with the Conservative party, having been the localConservative Association Chairman for five consecutive years.During his leadership he arranged visits in his local constituencyfrom many leading Conservative figures.

Faruk was the only Bangladeshi who was selected as an officialConservative Parliamentary Candidate in 2001 and achieved anexcellent second place against Oona King. He was also a Con-servative candidate for the same constituency and fought a hardcampaign against Oona King and George Galloway in 2005.

Faruk is the former President of the London region ofBangladesh-British Chamber of Commerce. He is the DeputyChairman of “Conservative Friends of Bangladesh”.

He is the founder member of the London Millennium BridgeClub and his name is engraved on this famous bridge, whichwas opened by Her Majesty the Queen. Faruk is also a trusteeof Bangladesh Female Academy, founder of Sunamganj Asso-ciation, “SUPROBASH” & a “Freeman of the City of London”.He lives in east end of London with wife Sherina and four chil-dren Shahnan, Eva, Safwan and Zayn.

Shahagir BakthFarukMSc.MRIPH

SECTOR:Politics, Business andCommunity Relations

Born in 1944, Bangladesh, Mr Saad Ghazi moved to England(1962) where he entered the catering profession in Coventrythrough studying a Catering Higher Management Course atthe Henley College of Further Education, Coventry, U.K. In1985 he used this training by coordinating a pilot course inIndo Bangla Catering for the London Borough of Tower Ham-lets, which received national recognition and was copiedthroughout the country.

Specialising in Authentic Indian Cuisine, he opened his firstrestaurant ' Taj Mahal' back in 1965, in 1969 he opened hissecond restaurant ‘Naz Curry Centre’, Croydon, Surrey. In1986 he opened his third restaurant ‘Sunderban Tandoori’which was one of the largest restaurants in Surrey. Finally in1989 he opened the Khyber Pass Tandoori Restaurant.

Married with three daughters, Mr Ghazi has always played akeen role in Bangladeshi Welfare and Catering. He has raisedfunds by hosting charity events as well as promotingBangladeshi Cuisine to a National and International level.During his time as Secretary General of Bangladesh CaterersAssociation, he worked to provide welfare & cultural activitiesto the local community.

As a director and ex Senior Vice Chairman of the BBCC hehelps to provide investment trading, research and develop-ment between traders in Bangladesh & U.K. Mr Ghazi hasbeen in this post since 2000 and has relentlessly attended allthe trade delegations and is forever present during their In-ternational Seminars.

Mr Ghazi has provided a selfless service to his community forwell over 35 years.

A.T.M.W. SAADGHAZI

SECTOR:Catering andCommunityRelations



Abdul Haque was born in Moulvibazar,Bangladesh in 1976 , and currently residesin Maida Vale, West London.

Mr Haque studied a BSc in Maths and Com-puting at Brunel University, and due to com-plete an MSc in Advance SoftwareEngineering at the University of Westmin-ster in 2009. As a civil servant, he used towork as a specialist software engineer onflight data processes for National Air TrafficServices [NATS].

However, he has now set up his own com-pany and is the Founder & Managing Direc-tor of Purple I Technologies, whichspecializes in IT software and has played anintegral part in promoting the EPOS systemto the Bangaldeshi/Indian Restaurant indus-try. He is also the Vice- Chairman of Chan-nel S, the television station for Bangladeshisin Britain and Europe, which was foundedby his brother Mahee Ferdhous Jalil - wherehis technological expertise means that heoversees the busy IT department there.

Away from his successful career, Mr Haqueenjoys nothing more than travelling theglobe. This seems only natural considering

his previous career in aviation technology.He has been to many different countriesaround the world, but feels that Malaysia ishis favourite. He cites the friendly nature ofthe Malaysian people, the cuisine, the valueand the fact that it is a strong Islamic nationas reasons why he finds it so favourable.However, he has also come away fromplaces such as the Maldives and Canadawith glowing reports.

Aside from travelling, Mr Haque indulgeshis hobbies of badminton, going to thegym and watching films, although withsuch a schedule it must be hard for him tofit these in. Mr Haque is married to MaryRahman who runs her own successful Lon-don based PR company, which specialises inpromoting clients hailing from the arts, the-atre, film and fashion industries.

Abdul Haque

SECTOR:: Information TechnologyandMedia

Ahmadul Haque served as Deputy Mayorof Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.He was the first Bangladeshi Councillorelected in the Midland region in 1995 andhas been reelected ever since. In 2006 CllrHaque received an award from Channel Sfor his services to the community. CllrHaque arrived in the UK in July 1963 andinitially became a member of the PakistanWelfare Association in Birmingham.

Whilst working in various different compa-nies, Cllr Haque was always keen to get intopolitics and in 1965 became a member ofthe old Labour party. With friction simmer-ing in East Pakistan and West Pakistan, CllrHaque set up the first Bangladesh ActionCommittee outside of Birmingham in 1971.In the same year Cllr Haque helped raiseclose to £1500 from contributions made bythe residents of North Birmingham for theBangladesh Action Committee movementas well as setting Midlands Awami League.

Cllr Haque is a very active member of theBangladeshi community always cam-paigned for equality and as a result in 1976received an award from the BangladeshiHigh Commission. Through effort and hav-ing to overcome numerous obstacles, Cllr

Haque also helped set up the Tipton MuslimTrust Association which is now referred toas Al-Islah Trust and a community centre forlocal Muslims in Tipton. Clearly evidentfrom his involvement with the BangladeshWomen’s Association and his executive po-sition with the Tipton Action Group, CllrHaque tries to serve all members of thecommunity.In the mid eighties, Cllr Haque purchased aterraced house via the trust and later set upthe Sandwell Confederation of BangladeshiMuslim Organisation (SCOBMO).

Cllr Haque is also a founder member of theCity Challenge Project as well as BangladeshYouth Movement. Through over twentyyears of persistence and hard work cam-paigning for level crossings in Tipton a 2.2million pound project finally commencedlast year. Cllr Haque also played a pivotalrole during Ms Syeda Khatun’s electioncampaign who later became the firstBangladeshi female councillor in the Mid-lands area in 1999.

Cllr Ahmadul Haque

SECTOR:Politics



Cllr Shafiqul Haque was born in 1960 inBahubal. His education began at theBahubal Upazilla Primary School beforepassing his SSC at Dinanath High School in1976. When he left high school, he com-pleted his HSC at the Sylhet GovernmentCollege. This was followed by both a BAand an LLB to become a lawyer in theHabigonj Judge Court.

Cllr Haque moved to the UK in 1991, andquickly became involved in the catering in-dustry. He owned a restaurant from 1991to 2003. He also enrolled at Guildhall Uni-versity to complete an LLB.

However, in 1992 Shafiqul Haque, as he wasthen known, joined the Labour party. Thismove would prove to have a great impact onhis life only a decade later. This was also hisfirst participation with politics in the UK.

In May 2002, Shafiqul Haque became CllrShafiqul Haque as he was elected theCouncillor for the ward of St. Katharine'sand Wapping in the London borough ofTower Hamlets. Since this initial election,Cllr Haque has proven to be an integralmember of Tower Hamlet’s Borough Coun-

cil. He was chosen to be the Vice-Chairmanfor the Council’s Development Panel andalso the Vice-Chairman of the Excellence ofPublic Service Committee among other im-portant positions.However, it was in 2004 that ShafiqulHaque’s prominence in Tower Hamlets’Council really came to the fore as he waschosen to be the Borough’s Deputy Mayor.Only two years later, in June 2006, the manfrom Bahubal’s ascension into politicswould reach its highest point as he waselected the Mayor of Tower Hamlets.

Cllr Shafiqul Haque served as a successfulMayor whilst he held that position and rep-resented the community very well.Currently Mr Haque is still a Labour partycouncillor for St. Katharine's and Wapping.He qualified as solicitor in 2009 and isbased at a firm in East London.

Additionally Cllr Haque is involved with var-ious community initiatives.Cllr Haque is married and has three children– two sons and a daughter.

Cllr Sha:qul Haque

SECTOR:Legal and Politics

Councillor M A Harid was born in KamalBazar Sylhet. Born to Late Alhaj Yakub Aliand Mrs Khyrun Nessa, Cllr Harid came tothe UK in 1972. M A Harid resided in Old-ham, where he attended the local OldhamCollege.

In 1993 Cllr Harid moved to Carlisle wherehe established his own business. He nowhas three restaurants in that area. More-over, in 2000 he worked very closely withthe City Council and arranged the firstcurry competition in Cumbria.Cllr Harid’s restaurants have won numerousawards including the first Curry Chef of theyear competition to be held. Furthermore,his restaurant has appeared in the GoodCurry Guide.

After joining the Labour party, in 2003 CllrHarid was nominated to stand in the Cityelections and he became the first AsianCouncil candidate to stand for election. In2007 Cllr Harid was elected as a Councillordefeating a BNP candidate in the processand becoming Cumbria’s first and onlyAsian Councillor.In 2008 a thirty minute documentary wasmade by Border TV highlighting Cllr Harid’sfirst year as Councillor.

Cllr Harid was nominated in 2009 for theChannel S Award. He has worked relent-lessly with numerous community initiativesand charities. He helped build the first andonly Mosque in Cumbria and serves on themanagement committee for the local Com-munity centre and is also a Trustee.

As councillor M A Harid serves on the De-velopment Control Committee and Com-munity Overview Scrutiny Committee. Heis also a governor of Bishop Harvey Good-win School.

Cllr Harid is married to Nasima Akther whohas a BA degree. The couple have threechildren. Cllr M A Harid

SECTOR:Politics and Catering



Any attempt to write history or present state of Bangla print orelectronic media in the UK will not be complete without men-tioning one name, Syed Samadul Haque. Born in Kishorehonjand brought up in the tea valley of Sylhet, Samadul Haque waseducated in Dhanmondi Govt. Boys High School, Dhaka Col-lege and Dhaka University.

Adventure and carrying out new ideas is part of SamadulHaque’s character. In 1973 while he was a Secretary of DhakaCollege Student Union, traveled to India with a State Studentdelegation. After a brief break of study to attend Military Acad-emy, Samadul Haque came back to Dhaka University to studyPolitics. While in the University he was also Director of a familybusiness, Sputnik International Limited. From 1981 to 1983 hetraveled to London several times on business. But journey toLondon in late 1983 was not a very pleasant one. This time hecame to London to sue a British Company, Wells Bridge MotorsLimited of Cambridge for breach of Contract. This litigation inthe High Court of London changed the destiny of SamadulHaque. He decided to live some time in London and took up acareer in media. Soon he was appointed as London Correspon-dent of Dainik Bangla, the than national newspaper ofBangladesh and began writing for different newspapers inDhaka & London.

In 1984 Samadul Haque joined the Weekly Janomot of London.Soon became the News Editor and Executive Editor, and editorin 1989. In the year 1987 his story on personal life of the thanPresident of Bangladesh HM Ershad was also picked up by Sun-day Observer of London as lead story and in response the gov-ernment of Bangladesh retaliated by banning `Janomot’ inBangladesh.

He spent good ten years of his youthful time to revitalize andgive a solid foundation for Janomot. In 1993-94 he served aspart-time Media Consultant of Bethnal Green City Challenge,a project of the Department of Environment of British Govern-ment. In 1995 while he was editor of BNS, introduced Interna-tional news agency service in Bangladesh in Bangla. He alsorepresented CNN in Bangladesh from 1995 – 1998.

Samadul Haque is a pioneer of ethnic television broadcasting inthe UK. In May 1998 he with two friends formed Bangla Tele-vision Limited and became Managing Director of the company.This Company launched first satellite Bangla TV Channel out-side Indian sub-continent on 16 September 1999. During hislong career in broadcasting industry he also served as Directorof News of Reminiscent Television, Managing Director of Chan-nel S Bangladesh and CEO of Takbeer TV in the UK.

His innovative contribution in British Bangla Media includeslaunching of `Daily Janomot’, first Bangla internet daily in 1995and Bangla tele-news service in the UK in 1994. He is also a pi-oneer of Call Centre industry in Bangladesh. In the year 2009he opened Orbit Communications Call Centre, first interna-tional Call Centre in Bangladesh.

Outside his professional world Samadul Haque is a Communityactivist. In 80’s and 90’s he was in the forefront of anti-racistand ethnic minority rights movement in the UK. He was afounder EC member of Tower Hamlets Law Centre, founderGeneral Secretary of Bangla Shahitya Porishod in the UK andalso one of the Founder of London Bangla Press Club.

Syed Samadul Haque

SECTOR:Media



Parveen Hassan is the Crown ProsecutionService (West Midlands Region) strategic leadfor Equality, Diversity and Community En-gagement with 17 years experience in thefield of equalities within the public sector. Sheis the Chair of West Midlands Strategic Mi-gration Partnership Regional Women’s IssuesGroup; an Honorary member for West Mid-lands Association ofMuslim Police and servedas Faith Advisor for Government Office forLondon; developing the Faith Alliance Grantsprogramme.

Parveen is also the Trustee for BirminghamCommunity Integration Partnership; an or-ganisation supporting employment and train-ing for new migrant women and Director ofMuslimWomen’s Network UK (MWN-UK) asTreasurer; the national platform advising Gov-ernment on Muslim Women issues. Parveengraduated in Professional Studies B (Phil) atthe University of Birmingham and has a DLAAdvance accreditation in Employment Law atthe University of Oxford Summer School.

Her career is dedicated to public servicewhereshe gained exceptional public recognition forher commitment & results. She was finalist atthe GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards2009 for Civil Servant of the Year and Asian

Achievers Awards 2009 AAA Gold Womanof the Year. She has commendations for out-standing contributions for Community En-gagement and Diversity at theWestMidlandsLocal Criminal Justice Board 2009 Inside Jus-tice Awards; in developing service provisionand policies to support diverse communitiesin addressing violence against women.Her accolades also include winner for the‘Best Female Employee of the Year’ at theBritish Asian Hafta Awards in October 2009.

Parveen’s civic engagement programmes andpolitical aspirations received recognition byOperation Black Vote (OBV) andGovernmentEqualities Office (GEO); partisan of Conserva-tiveWomenOrganisation (CWO), shewas re-cently elected vice chairman for WestMidlands CWO; the first female Bangladeshito hold such a position.

Furthermore, Parveen actively supportsBangladeshi professional networks and char-ity events for social purpose. An Ambassadorfor her professional work in the community;she was recently interviewed on Brit Asia TVon Successful AsianWomen. Parveen is a reg-ular columnist in the women section of Lon-don Bangla; commenting on womenempowerment, gender, and politics.

Parveen Hassan

SECTOR:Legal

Rafique Hayder is the Director of BanglaTownCash and Carry and Bangla City locatedin Brick Lane, which are the Bangladeshicommunity’s most popular businesses basedin London. Bangla Town was established in1994 along with other partners. He comesfrom the village of Hayder Pur, Chattak,Sunamganj and comes from a prominentfamily; his father is Haji Altab Ali.Mr Rafique Hayder graduated in Bangladesh,having completed his degree from MC Col-lege. His degree was in Social Welfare. Hethen arrived here in the United Kingdomwhere he initially entered into the family busi-ness ‘Greenline’. He worked at Greenline forone year before embarking on his own busi-ness venture.Besides being a director of Bangla Town Cashand Carry, Mr Hayder also has numerousother investments and business interests. Heis a Director of Bangla TownHousing, Londonas well as a Director of another well knownlarge cash and carry, namely Bangla City,which too is situated in the heart of BrickLane. In additionMr Hayder has several prop-erties to his name here in the UK as well asland in Bangladesh and is the Chairman of anexport/import business based in the UK.He is closely connected to the ‘Simply aPound’ charity, and is a well-wisher of the

Ibrahim College near East London Mosque.Furthermore he has donated hugely to thevictims and sufferers of the Sidr Cyclone.He has also donated in Sylhet and has helpedestablish Schools, colleges and Madrasas inSylhet. Rafique Hayder is also London Re-gional Director of the Bangladesh BritishChamber of Commerce and amember of theGreater Sylhet Welfare and DevelopmentCouncil. He is a member of the BangladeshWelfare Association as well as being formerSecretary of the Tower Hamlets Parent’s As-sociation. More importantly he is the Chair-man of the Bangladeshi export/importorganisation in the UK and also one of theeleven strong committeemembers for a task-force for business set up here in the UK bythe Bangladeshi government.Mr Hayder is married to Asma Hayder andthey have three children who are Adnan,Abidah and Akifah, who are all studying atschool. His interests and pastimes includetravelling, and he has been fortunate in visit-ing many countries in Europe and Asia, in-cluding Thailand and Malaysian to name afew. He also enjoys helping others.My Rafique Hayder is a distinguished busi-nessman and philanthropist, who boastssome very successful businesses and a verystrong and positive link with the community.

Ra:que Hayder

SECTOR:Business



Mr Atiqul Hoque is the son of LumranulHoque. Born in Siramishi Jagannathpur, MrHoque came to the UK in 1986 and at-tended Danford School and proceeded toTower Hamlets College where he com-pleted his education in business studies.

In 1997 Atiqul Hoque opened his first busi-ness at the tender age of 21, which was theChutneys Indian takeaway in Salisbury,Wiltshire. However, from the opening of hisfirst catering establishment, Mr Hoque hasgone from strength to strength and man-aged to open several more establishedeateries such as Chutney Restaurant inShaftsbury, Tandoori Nights in Amesburyand Hox Brasserie.

Mr Hoque has always had a passion forfood and has recently opened a Thai restau-rant in Andover and an Italian Restaurant inSalisbury. Mr Hoque is also involved with anumber of charitable organisations in Salis-bury. He is the Vice chairman of the south-west Bangladesh Caterers Association, Jointcashier of the Muslim Association of Salis-bury.

Mr Hoque’s long term plans are to set up acharity fund under his grandparent’s name.

Furthermore, he seeks to build a mosqueand madrasha and settle near these insti-tutes when he eventually retires.

Mr Hoque is married with three children:two sons and one daughter.

Atiqul Hoque

SECTOR:Catering

Mr Rafiqul Hoque was born in Bangladeshin the district of Sylhet, and came to Englandwith his family at a young age. He grew up inTower Hamlets, a Borough that has an acuteshortage of housing, severe overcrowdingand social deprivation.Mr Hoque obtained his professional qualifica-tion in Housing from Westminster Universityin 1996. He has worked tirelessly using his in-depth housing knowledge, determination,professionalism, innovative thinking, opera-tional and strategic management, and lead-ership skills to shape and improve the Housingand Allocations service over the last 20 yearsin the East End. He is currently the only seniorBangladeshi Manager within Housing inTower Hamlets, leading andmanaging a largeworkforce; reviewing and implementing newpolicies.As amember of the Allocations Action Learn-ing Group set up by the Communities andLocal Government (CLG), and Chartered In-stitute of Housing looking at best practices,he plays a critical and an advisory role withinthis Group, shaping future policy and guid-ance on Housing Allocation at a national level.Mr Hoque is a skilful, industrious, conscien-tious, caring, diligent and determined individ-ual who is passionate about what he does. Heis unwavering in his desire to build a better fu-

ture for his family and make a positive differ-ence to people within his community in theUK and Bangladesh.Shipbuilding is an emerging market inBangladesh with huge potential. Mr Hoque isa Director of Maritimus Ltd, which is one ofthe leading international shipbuilding compa-nies in Bangladesh. Over the next few yearsthe Company will play a major role in improv-ing the local infrastructure and creating hun-dreds of jobs in Bangladesh. Mr Hoque iseager to ensure the Company fulfils its corpo-rate responsibility by setting up a MarineAcademy, which will be the first of its kind inBangladesh, offering formal qualification tostudents in this field. He passionately believesthatMaritimus provides him the platform as aNon-resident Bangladeshi to give somethingback to his motherland, contribute to the na-tional economy and change the lives of peo-ple in Bangladesh.Amongst his peers, friends, relatives and localcommunity he is well respected and admireddue to his kind nature and willingness to helpthose in need.He is happily married to his devotedwife Parv-inara Hoque Chowdhury and has threeadorable children namedMohammed, Samiraand Amanah. He likes spending quality timewith his family.

Ra:qul Hoque

SECTOR:Local Government



Ajmalul Hossain QC practices law since he was enrolled at theBar of England and Wales back in 1978. He is the very first andonly Queen’s Counsel in England of Bangladeshi origin and aSenior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. He reg-ularly practices in both England and Bangladeshi jurisdiction.

Ajmalul specialises in trans-national banking, trading supplyand financial contracts at Selborne Chambers in the UK. He isthe senior partner of A Hossain & Associates, Law Offices, aleading commercial law firm of Bangladesh based in Dhaka. Aj-malul and A Hossain & Associates have also been registeredwith the Attorney-General’s Chambers in Singapore as Inter-national Arbitration Practitioners. Ajmalul has acted for severalhundred ex-employees of the Bank of Credit and CommerceInternational in the multi-million pound liquidation of the bankin England, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands, which hasnow been settled in their favour.

He has represented Bangladesh and several clients as LeadingCounsel in several ICC, ICSID and ad-hoc arbitrations. He wasthe Chairman of Employment Tribunals, dealing with complexcases of sex, race and disability discrimination, unfair andwrongful dismissal. He also acts as an arbitrator in commercialmatters and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitratorsof England and regularly chairs arbitrations held under the aus-pices of ICC and other bodies. He is a Fellow of the Society forAdvanced Legal Studies and a member of the Standards Panelof the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Since January 2006,Ajmalul has been a member of the ICC International Court ofArbitration in Paris and a member of the International CricketCouncil, Code of Conduct Commission.

AjmalulHossain QC


Mozammel Hossain is a Criminal Barrister practicing from187 Fleet Street. The Chambers are a leading specialist crim-inal set with a large number of Queen’s Counsel and Judges.Mr Hossain was described in one legal publication as ‘a fear-less and passionate court room advocate with magicalcharm’. He is the only non- British, Bangladeshi practicing inthe UK.

Mr. Hossain was born in Bangladesh in the village of Mol-larhowla in Barisal. He completed his school education atMotijheel Model High School in Dhaka, before embarking onHigher Secondary education at Dhaka College.Mr. Hossain then began the LLB (Hons) course at the Univer-sity of Dhaka, after one year of this degree he came to UK,where at the University of Liverpool he enrolled for the LLB(Hons). He then continued to pursue his legal career by ob-taining the Bar Vocational Qualification from the Inns ofCourt School of Law.He was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of InnerTemple. Subsequently he obtained a pupillage with thechambers he is currently with, and went onto obtain his ten-ancy. He has been involved in numerous high profile cases.Mr. Hossain has held a number of key positions whilst at theInns of Court School of Law. He was a member of the Gov-erning Body of the Inns of Court School of Law as well asPresident of the student’s union, being the first ever studentfrom abroad to hold these prestigious positions.His father, Ali Akbar Howlader and his mother, AyeshaHowlader are farmers. They live in their village in Barisal.

Mr. Hossain’s siblings like himself are all highly successful. Hisbrother Dr Mohammad Hossain Howlader is a surgeon inEngland and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Hiseldest brother Mokbul Hossain is also a graduate and is cur-rently Chairman of the ‘Aksha Food Industry Ltd’. A thirdbrother, Mr Altaf Hossain Masud is a FCA Chartered Ac-countant in Bangladesh; he is also the Managing Director ofthe ‘Aksha’.His only surviving sister, a university graduate, is married to aneye surgeon. Mr. Hossain has dedicated a lot of his time tocharitable initiatives and community organisations. Mozam-mel Hossain is fond of poetry, Russian literature, theatre, rainand most of all Bengali food.

MozammelHossain




Syed Moazzam Hossain is a prominentBangladeshi businessman and a conducivemember of the community. He was born inPatuakhali, Bangladesh to Mr. Syed De-lowar Hossain and Mrs. Rani Begum. He ar-rived in the UK in 1989.

Before arriving in the UK, he did a threeyears Diploma in Printing Technology fromBangladesh. In the UK he furthered hisknowledge by doing an HND in Print Pack-aging from LCP (London College of Print-ing). Mr. Moazzam believes that learninghas no age, therefore he did not allow thegap to hinder his thirst for knowledge. Withthat drive for education, he is currentlydoing a BA (Hons) in Print Media Manage-ment, final year at University of The Arts.

Mr. Moazzam started a business in the UKin 2001 called Today’s Printers Ltd. He servesas the Managing Director of the organiza-tion. In addition to that, he opened anotherbusiness in Dhaka in 2008 called Today’sPrinting and Fashions Bangladesh Ltd. He iscurrently the chairman of the company.

Mr. Moazzam is also known for his charita-ble works. He is the founder chairman ofBangladesh Support Foundation, a volun-tary organization based in the UK thatworks for the less fortunate in Bangladesh.

Mr. Moazzam is married to Mrs. ShireenAkter. They are blessed with three children.Syeda Fahmida Sultana, Mehdi Syed Hassanand Fiona Syeda Juma. The family live inLondon. Mr. Moazzam has a passion forlandscape photography, he also enjoysspending quality time with the family.

SyedMoazzamHossain

SECTOR:Media

Dr. Hasanat Husain was born in Sunum-gonj, Sylhet in 1949; his father was a Veteri-nary Civil Surgeon in the Assam Civil Serviceof British India. Dr. Husain has a prolific aca-demic background; he obtained a First ClassHonours degree in Physics with Mathematicsin 1969 as well as a First Class M.Sc. degreein 1970 from the prestigious University ofDhaka. Dr. Husain then went on to completea Ph.D. from the University of Exeter andwasappointed as a Royal Society Post DoctoralFellow at the University of Sussex. He has fur-ther completed the PGCE at the University ofGreenwich obtaining a Grade A.

Dr. Hasanat due to his elongated academiccredentials and experience has held many es-teemed positions at home and abroad. Hewas Associate Professor at the University ofDhaka, as well as at the University of Zambiaand an Associate at the International Centrefor Theoretical Physics at Trieste, Italy. He wasalso the Head of Solar Energy at the Univer-sity of Sebha in Libya.Dr. Hasanat Husain then moved back to theUK, where during the early 1990s he was alecturer at Tower Hamlets College for somefive years. From 1995 to 2002 he was theHead of Bilingualism and Bilingual SupportServices for the Tower Hamlets Local Educa-tion Authority. Currently Dr. Husain holds nu-merous coveted positions;

he is a Consultant to the DfES Standards Unitin the UK, as well as an Observer and Inspec-tor for Colleges in the UK and an AssociateAdvisor to the Birmingham and BradfordLEAs. Dr. Husain’s family has reflected thehighly qualified and academic brackgroundof himself. His wife Mrs. Shahida Husain, aFellow of Royal Society of Arts, has a BA inEconomics and an MA in Social Welfare alsofrom the University of Dhaka. She currentlyworks as a Key Stage 1 Leader and a Coordi-nator of Science at a Primary School in Lon-don. Dr. Hasanat’s eldest daughter is aDentist, whilst his son has graduated in Neu-roscience from the University of Sussex and ispresently completing a MD at the MedicineFaculty of Charles University in the Czech Re-public.His youngest daughter is also a student ofMedicine at the University of Sussex.Dr. Hasanat Husain has made a significantcontribution to Ethnic Minority Education inGreat Britain and as a recognition, wasawarded Member of the Order of the BritishEmpire by Her Majesty the Queen in 2003.He was also awarded an Asian Film AcademyAward in 1995 for ‘community services in theUK’.His work outside of his vocation has includedinvolvement with the ‘Working Group: Inclu-sive Policy and Practices in the UK’.

Dr. HasanatM. Husain MBE

SECTOR:Academia



Mrs. Shahida Hasanat Husain, Fellow ofRoyal Society of Arts; is an Academician, aTeacher, an Artist, and a Social worker. AnMAfrom University of Dhaka in Social Welfare,Mrs. Husain was appointed as a Lecturer atthe Commonwealth Institute of Lusaka inZambia in 1981-83. She then accompaniedher husband to the University of Sebha in theSebha Province of Libyawhere she opened upSebha’s first International School and served itas its founder Principal from 1985 – 1989.She returned to London to join BlueGate FieldInfants School as a Class teacher and a Hu-manities and RE Co-ordinator from 1990 til2000. She was appointed as the Key Stage 1leader and the Science Co-ordinator inNightingale Primary School of London Bor-ough of Redbridge in 2000 and is serving theschool community since then. While at theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets, she wasalso a teacher governor for long ten years andcontributed nationally by taking part in theproduction of the DFES audio cassette on ‘Im-proving School Attendance’ and the booklet‘It’s Good to be School Governor’.Mrs. Husain was known for her dancing andsinging aptitude from childhood and has per-formed in various state functions . An ace de-bater, she was the Cultural Secretary ofComilla Womens College before the start of

the Liberation war of Bangladesh. She was awell known TV drama artist and a presenter inpost independence Bangladesh Radio and TV.In Zambia, she produced the Bangladesh In-dependence night which created front pageheadlines in Times of Zambia. In Libya, she or-ganized International Cultural events for theSebha International Congress. And, back inLondon, she was the founder Cultural Secre-tary of the Greater Sylhet Council, UK and or-ganized memorable cultural nights inBritannia and Hilton Hotels (London), in Em-press Hotel (Isle of Mann) in Aston University(Birmingham), in Riverside (Cardiff) and in Ed-inburgh.As a social worker shewas associatedwith theBirdem Diabetes Hospital of Bangladesh anddid projects with its founder late Dr. Ibrahimduring 1977-81. In London, while working atthe Borough of Tower Hamlets in the earlyyears of the Nineties when there was little so-cial service support available ,Mrs. Husain pro-vided the much needed one to one homesupport for many households in Shadwellarea. When Blue Gate Field School was burntdown by racistsMrs. Husain as a teacher Gov-ernor of that school provided the muchneeded moral support for parents and chil-dren and helped the rebuilding of the school.Mrs. Shahida Hasanat Husain is known for her

relentless social, educational and cultural workin raising achievement of British Bangladeshiwomen, men and children.She is the Founder Secretary of Womens Af-fairs of the World Forum of Voice For Justice.She is well respected and revered as an iconfor the British Asian women in the UK.

A gifted and talented individual, Dr BabulHussainwas born in 1965 into a nobleMus-lim family in Tatley Uttor Para village in SouthSurma, Sylhet. Dr Babul Hussain is the secondson of Muhammad Lal Miah and SuberaKhatun, who had two sons and seven daugh-ters.Dr Babul Hussain started his primary educa-tion in Telibazar Primary School. In 1982 heachieved grade A in his secondary qualificationfrom Ramshundor High School.Whilst completing his secondary education healso attended evening classes tomemorize theHoly Qur'aan, which he completed in 1982,and attained the tile of hifz from BoroikhandiSultania Hafizia Madrasa.

He then came to the UK in 1982 to further hiseducation, with the ambition of becoming adoctor. Once he arrived - realising that he hadto improve his English to achieve his goal - hewent to Southwark College in London in Sep-tember 1982 and passed the ESOL course in1983. He was then admitted to WestminsterKingsway College and achieved A grades inBiology and Chemistry in 1985. He gained theFRCS qualification from the Royal College ofPhysicians and Surgeons, Glasgow in 2002.He is currently serving as a surgeon at GreatOrmond Street Children's Hospital.Dr Babul is a role model for the young gener-ation of British Bangladeshis. Dr Babul wasvery focused with his aims and ambitions. DrBabul has shown that anyone committed to

their dreams can be successful in achievingtheir goals.Dr Babul Hussain is a music lover and patronof many musical institutes. As a committedfollower of folk music, he has provided finan-cial support to pay tribute to legendary folkmusicians such as Fakir Lalon Shah. Believingthat he has the responsibility to keep thememory of folk poets alive, he has contributedto the refurbishment of the Lalon Academy,and has also researched and collected evi-dence from reliable sources of Lalon Shah'smost historic moments in folk music history.Moreover, throughDr Babul's generous contri-bution the academy was able to publish an'Aroshi Nogor' souvenir in 2008/09. Dr Babulhimself has PHD in Baul folk songs and themusic of Lalon Shah from Kolkata, India andBangladesh, and has successfully passedexams in classical and Baul folk music in Janu-ary 2008.Dr Babul is both a founder member anddonor to Baul Kollam Shomitee Sylhet;founder and chairman of Lalon Shah Founda-tion UK and International, the only organisa-tion to promote the work the work of LalonShah Foundation UK and International, theonly organisation to promote the work inLalon Shah in Europe; Cultural advisor of theBengal Association in Berlin, Germany, andfounder member of Sufi Shah Arkum ShahUrus Progotti. Over the years Dr Babul Hussainhas helped many poor and needy people tobuild houses, and has provided financial help

to talented poor pupils in Bangladesh. In addi-tion, he provides regular financial support to anumber of high schools and primary schools inSouth Surma Sylhet.Hemarried Noorjahan Hussain in 1991 and isblessed with eight children: Tasslima Hussain,Tahmima Hussain, Tahead Hussain, RaheadHussain, Tangima Hussain, Tahmida Hussain,Rashead Hussain and Raseal Hussain.

Husain ShahidaHasanat MA, FRSA

SECTOR:Academia

Dr Babul Hussain

SECTOR:Medicine



Mr. Kamal Hussain is an Event Coordinator of Film Asia, theprominent filmmaking company based in East London. He com-petently coordinates any Event’s that Film Asia is contracted for.Mr. Kamal Hussain, son of Mr. Idris Ali and Mrs Lali Begum, wasborn in the village of Amratoil, Jagonathpur Upazilla, (Sunam-ganj District) Bangladesh.

Mr. Kamal Hussain arrived in the United Kingdom in 1988 withhis parents. He did his schooling from Stepney Green School inLondon. After finishing his education, he become involved inthe catering industry.Film Asia excels in filmmaking, editing and camera operating. Itis more than just a film company. They are a media productionagency setting the standard of film making across the UnitedKingdom.

Film Asia mainly produces wedding films for Asian Brides andGrooms. They also had known for TV Commercials MusicVideo, Concerts, Tele-films and Full Event Management.Film Asia produced a ghazal night with Alaur Rahman and theBritish Bangladeshi Who’s who programme in 2009 and 2010.With brilliant editors, graphic designers, cinematographers andevent coordinators, the group has been a raving success in thefilm business of East London.

The motto of Film Asia is simple; it is all about perfection, inno-vation and imagination. Specialising in video production andphotography, the artistic approach operated by Film Asia hasmet with critical acclaim from the professional world.In Mr. Kamal Hussain’s words, ‘the overall message we wish toconvey is simple, we are responsible for the smooth running ofthe Event both timely and resourcefully by leasing with the re-spected client and the venue manager.

He lives in Poplar, London with his family. His wife is NazmaAkter. They have two sons and one daughter. The names of thesons are Thufayel Ahmed and Alamin Ahmed. The daughter isNadira Akter.

MuhammadKamal Hussain

SECTOR:Media

Shelim HussainMBEwas born in 1973. He is best describedas an entrepreneur having started his first business in 1991 atthe age of 18 while working part-time as a waiter and study-ing at college for his A Levels.Mr Hussain saw an opportunity in the market for prawn sup-ply and started off by selling a few boxes of frozen prawnswith his friend, delivering them at night while continuing withhis education during the day. His business had an initial cap-ital of only £20. Currently, the annual turnover of his businessis around £40 million.He formed Eurofoods UK in 1993 and the company hasgrown rapidly since. He employs over 200 staff and has foodprocessing units in Newport, South Wales and in Barking. Healso has a new plant and four factories in Bangladesh, andhas started a subsidiary in New York.

Aside from Eurofoods he has also invested in the propertydevelopment business in Wales. He is founder, chairman andmanaging director of several well reputed companies, theseinclude Euro Foods (UK) Ltd, S & B Developments Ltd, SRSPoultry Ltd which commeneced in 2003, Eurasia Food Pro-cessing (BD) Ltd situated in Bangladesh, Euro Linen Service(UK) Ltd, Horizon Seafood Ltd, Saidowla Enterprise and EuroFoods (BD) Ltd.

He has won the Eastern Eye Young Achiever Award that waspresented by Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, and wasnominated for Young Achiever at the Asian Jewel Awards2003.

Shelim HussainMBE

SECTOR:Entrepreneur



Mahbub Hussain was born in a well re-spected family in the city of Sylhet,Bangladesh. In Sylhet, he studied at SylhetGovt. Pilot High School and whilst studyingthere, he got involved with a radio stationknown as “Bangladesh Betar Sylhet”. Hebecame a regular host of the daily maga-zine programme “Daily Bichitra” and con-tinued to work there and gain valuableexperience until he came to Britain.As well as this, he also had a passion forjournalism and this led to having several ofhis cover story articles published in the mostpopular Bangladeshi magazine “Weekly Bi-chitra” and “weekly Robbar”.From an early age, Mahbub had a passionfor photography. He became one of thephotographers for “The Daily Ittefaq”. Aswell as this, he was one of the three found-ing members of the Sylhet Photography So-ciety (SPS). He was also awarded for hisphotography skills in the Soviet Union Inter-national Photography Competition as wellas in various other competitions withinBangladesh. He became an active memberof the Bangladeshi Photograph society,based in Dhaka In January 1994, Mahbubcame to England, Birmingham and went onto complete many job related courses, most

of which were in the field of media. In1995, he started as a broadcast assistant atBBC WM, where he became a newsreaderas well as reporting various events and is-sues. He soon got promoted as a broadcastJournalist at BBC Asian Network for theBengali shows. Mahbub has interviewedmany inspirational and influential peoplesuch as the Bangladeshi Prime Minister andmany Bangladeshi and Bollywood super-stars as well as mainstream leading figuresof Britain. Apart from this, he has donemany international reports on topical issuesincluding a live one from Bangladesh aboutthe corporation elections. The BBC Asiannetwork gave him the opportunity to co-host the world’s largest Bangladeshi festivaloutside Bangladesh, “ Boishakhi Mela” inLondon which attracts over 120,000 peo-ple. In 2000, Mahbub launched a bilingualmagazine titled “The Millennium”. It hassince become available worldwide and isthe most popular magazine outsideBangladesh.

As well as working as a broadcast journalist,Mahbub also works for the BirminghamCity Council Social Services.

Mahbub hussain

SECTOR:Media

Mr. SheikhMd. IshtiaqueHussain has amixededucational background, having passed his S.S.Cexams in Bangladesh, and subsequently com-pleting his BSc (Hons) degree in Software Engi-neering in the UK. He began his career in ITwithin the Financial sector, working for CreditSuisse, a major multi-national investment bank,architecting bespoke, multi-user Portfolio andRisk Management applications for Financial De-rivative products. Having gained substantialknowledge and experience in his chosen fieldover the years, he proceeded to form his own ITConsultancy firm, Soft Projects Limited, of whichhe is the Managing Director. He has since pro-vided consultancy services to most of the majormulti-national investment banks through hisfirm, including Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, JPMorgan, BNP Paribas, and others, maintaininggood networking links within the Financial sectorin Canary Wharf and the City of London.

Mr. Hussain possesses strong project manage-ment, marketing and entrepreneurial skills, pro-moting his services and delivering global ITsolutions with multi-million pound budgets tothe top-most investment banks in the world.Mr. Hussain is also among the new generation ofentrepreneurs who believe in the emerging eco-nomic strength of Bangladesh, and are passion-ate about contributing to the development ofBangladesh as a nation through large-scale, col-laborative commerce. In this regard, Mr. Hussainis Director of PR & IT (UK) of Maritimus Limited,an export-oriented international shipbuilding

company, with its shipyard facilities located inBangladesh. The international shipbuilding indus-try is globally worth around $400 billion, and inthe next 5 years, Bangladesh is expected to bringin around $10 billion worth of foreign currencythrough its thriving shipbuilding sector.Maritimusaims to be at the forefront of heavily contributingto the economy of Bangladesh through thishugely rewarding and prestigious sector, and inthe process propelling Bangladesh into amiddle-income country. Mr. Hussain is the driving forcebehind the marketing strategy for Maritimus inthe UK, and enthusiastically plays an active andcrucial part in promoting the company to awide-ranging and often global audience.Mr. Hussain has a passion for literature and forplaying music. He plays the electric lap steel gui-tar (also known as the Hawaiian guitar), and haspreviously performed on-stage at the BaishakhiMela. He is known for his sincerity and determi-nation, and maintains a very high level of pro-fessionalism in all his dealings. He is also knownto have a very warm and amicable personality.Mr. Hussain was born in the village of Ludorpur(Hakim Bari), in Jagannathpur, and is theyoungest son of Late Alhaj Kalandor Ali (FazlulHaque) and Syeda Shirazun Nahar Haque. Hisfamily have been permanently settled at Muni-shipara, Sylhet Sadar, from the early 1980s.Mr. Hussain currently resides in Canary Wharf,with his wife Shabnaj Tasnia Hussain (daughterof Late Dr. Abdul Munim, Amberkhana, Sylhet)and their daughter (Rifaat Walia Hussain) andson (Wadi Muntasir Hussain).

SheikhMd. IshtiaqueHussain

SECTOR:IT & Shipbuilding



Md.Moftil Hussain is the owner of Mumtaz Mahal and SuhagRestaurant in Essex. Before coming to the United Kingdom in1967, Mr. Hussain had completed his high school education inKuskipur and upon arrival obtained a Diploma.

Born in 1956 in the Village of Sikondorpur Osmaninogor, Sylhet,Mr. Moftil Hussain is the son of late Abul Hussain.

Mr. Hussain has made his name in the restaurant business, hav-ing set up is first restaurant in 1970. However, these days he isoccupied in the property market, having several properties to hisname, as well as various other businesses.

Based in south Benfleet, Mr. Hussain’s restaurant, the MumtazMahal, is a well-established Tandoori restaurant which was firstopened in 1977 making it the longest established TandooriRestaurant in the Castle Point District.

Moftil Hussain is married to Sufia Begum they have two sons;Iqbal and Nazrul who have been educated to a high level in theUK and are leading successful careers.

Besides his business interests, he is involved in politics as well asvarious social activities. He is the Treasurer of the BangladeshCaterers Association, Essex Branch, as well as being a member ofthe central committee. Additionally, he is also the Treasurer forthe Great Sylhet Gonodabi Porishod and life member SylhetAcademy UK and Europe. He is also trustee of Balagonj Educa-tion Trust and the Balagonj Shomity. He is a founder trustee ofEssex Mosque.

Md. Moftil Hussain was one of the orgainsers of the 1971 Lib-eration movement in the UK. He has also participated in othersuch social and community initiatives and is an altruistic individualhaving donated to mosques, schools and other organistaionsboth here in the UK and in Bangladesh.

Mr. Moftil Hussain is a member of the conservative party, andbelieves that politics and community work canmake a huge pos-itive impact on society and therefore has dedicated an immenseproportion of his time to these causes.

MD.MoftilHussain

SECTOR:Catering

Mr Islam is one the UK’s most talented and successful busi-ness and media entrepreneurs. Working within the media in-dustry for over 15 years, he is a former Editor of the EasternEye newspaper, the UK's largest national Asian paper, for-merly owned by the Trinity Mirror Group.For over a decade now, Mr Islam’s core profession is runningMedialink, where he is the Managing Director one of theUK’s leading communication, PR & media agency. His expert-ise and network of contacts, built up over his years in thisfield help to ensure that the business is able to widen itsstrategic relationships and build strong partnerships. His com-pany’s clients range from well renowned brands such as Tildato institutions such as the BBC. Medialink is an approved andaccredited service provider for many local authorities andhousing associations.Mr Islam is a multi-skilled and talented British Bangladeshiand one of the few real experts in the field of ethnic PR,media and communication. He embodies passion for helpingorganisations to tell their story, raise their profile and offersstrategic guidance to help organisations understand and con-nect with the people that matter the most to them. In recog-nition of his outstanding achievements in his profession, hehas won numerous prestigious awards in the field of mediaand communication.As chairman of various investment companies, Mr Islam andhis team are involved in commercial and residential propertydevelopment in the UK and abroad. He pioneered the incep-tion and development of a popular five star hotel inBangladesh, ‘Dhaka Regency’, which was founded by MrIslam and three other directors, now running successfully. Heis a director and trustee of two large asset based organisa-tions where he plays a large part in their strategic develop-ment.A generous patron to many good causes, Mr Islam is a well-known and respected figure within the British Bangladeshicommunity. He is passionate about community prosperity;he has actively worked, trained and helped to develop theskill base of local young people in the field of design, weband TV production, on a voluntary basis. One of his ambi-tions is to create opportunities for innovative and creativeprojects that empower young people, supporting them atkey transition points in their lives, through media related,arts, education, training and personal development activities.

Mujib Islam

SECTOR:Media and Business



Syed Nurul Islam Dulu was the FirstBangladeshi Parliamentary Candidate (MP) andCouncillor candidate in London.Born in Syedpur, Sylhet, Bangladesh and boughup in England. He is a recognised and distin-guished community leader. He began his politi-cal and community career in the 70s, in the EastEnd, developing a number of leading edge andwell regarded services and organisations.

Syed Nurul has been a community developmentspecialist in Inner London for the past 35 Years.He has opened up many pathways in the fieldof community relations and has set up numer-ous community and cultural centres and prem-ises. He was the Founder & Chair of SylhetCommunity Centre, BYA, Kobi Nuzrul Centre,Stepney Shahajalal Mosque, Federation ofBangladeshi Youth Organisation in UK (FBYO),Spitafields Housing Co-operative and a BengaliNewspaper – Shomoy. His support for the com-munity and hard work did not stop there helead various other organistaions such as,Bangladesh Disaster Appeal, Bangladeshi Wel-fare Association Bengali Education Need inTower Hamlets (BENTH), Community ActionGroup, Asian Unemployment Outreach Project,Federation of Tenants Association, and was theFounder of Bangladeshi Activists Forum (BAF).He has established a reputable career in the Lib-eral Democtrats party he has had various rolessuch as being the Chair and president for theTower Hamlets Local Party, ExecutiveMember of

London Regional Committee, Vice Chair for theEthnic Minority Liberal Democrats and variousother positions within the party.In Addition to his positions in the UK he has alsoplayed an influential role in Bangladeshi politics.He was a Former Upozilla Chairman Candidate.FormerMayor Candidate for Sylhet, Bangladesh.Nomitated MP Candidate, Chair for UK SramikLeague, UK Jatio Party Advisor and many otherpositions.Syed Nurul was one of the first Bangladeshi of-ficers for GLC and one of the first housing offi-cers in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.He has had roles such as Welfare Officer, EstateOfficer, Team Leader, and Head of the HousingAdvisory section.He has worked in the community sector as aField Worker, Asian Unemployment OutreachWorker, YouthWorker, Mother Tongue Teacher.In the need of advancing his skills and knowl-edge base he studiedMA : Local Government &Politics in London Guildhall University. SyedNurul was also an entrepreneur, he began hisbusiness in the early 70’s in the East End withSyed Suede and Leather Company, A Syed &Co(Garments Manufacturer) Sonar Goan IndianRestaurant, Moni-Mukta Project Property Devel-opment and now Syed Internal School inBangladesh.Syed Nurul is married with five children andnow blessed with four grandchildren.

Ifty Islam is the founder and ManagingPartner of AT Capital. The commitment todevelop the Asian Tiger platform reflects hisoptimism on Bangladesh's potential as aninvestment destination having been a regu-lar participant in capital markets eventsthere for a number of years.

His objective is to leverage his long-term re-lationships with many of the world's largestinvestors developed over an 18 year WallStreet career to attract substantial overseasfunds to the country.

Prior to moving to Dhaka, Ifty was a Man-aging Director at Citigroup, London from2004-2007 where he was Head of MacroStrategy and Hedge Fund Research. From1997-2004 Ifty spent 8 years at DeutscheBank Securities in London and New York,latterly as Managing Director and Chief USStrategist. Ifty has also worked as a Euro-pean Strategist at Merrill Lynch and beganhis career in 1989 in the corporate finance

group at BZW Securities focusing on privati-sations in Eastern Europe.

He graduated from the Queen's College,Oxford with a BA/MA (First Class) in Politics,Philosophy and Economics.

Ifty Islam

SECTOR:Finance

Syed Nurul Islam (Dulu)

SECTOR:Politics & CommunityRelations



MrMohammed Shah Jahan is behind oneof the Bangladeshi community’s most suc-cessful companies: Star Group. He wasborn in the village of Shaldiga in Jagannath-pur. Mr Shah Jahan’s father is Haji Md AfizUllah and his mother Mrs Maira Khatun.

Shah Jahan has been involved in the busi-ness arena for 15 years, having moved tothe United Kingdom in 1982.

Mohammed Shah Jahan in the Chairman ofStar Group, who have under their controlStar Furnishing a leading supplier of domes-tic furniture. Moreover, the Star Group alsoown Star Catering Equipments who offer acommercial catering supply service nation-ally to the catering industry. The group alsoown Star Construction who design andbuild and also Carpet Bazaar which is aflooring specialist. Star Group is also occu-pied with the catering industry being theowners of Lime Restaurant in Docklands.

Star Group are based in London and havenumerous showrooms and offices acrossthe breadth of the capital. They have be-

come a well recognised group of compa-nies and their service is second to none. Thesuccess of Star Group has inevitably led tothe success of Mohammed Shah Jahan.

Star Group continuously support numerouscommunity initiatives and organisations andoften sponsor different events.

Mohammed Shah Jahan has personallycontributed to several charitable causesboth in Bangladesh and here in this country.He has helped those who are povertystricken, and also towards various institu-tions such as mosques, schools and otherlike establishments.

Mohammed Shah Jahan is married to MrsAyesha Jahan, and they have two sons andtwo daughters. Their sons are MohammedNasim Jahan and Mohammed NazmulJahan, whilst their daughters are HabibaJahan and Nazifa Jahan. They are all in ed-ucation and reside in the family home inDocklands, London.

Mohammed ShahJahan

SECTOR:Business

Mohammed Abdul Munim Jahedi wasborn in the village of Hilal Pur, in the Sylhetdistrict of Bangladesh.He is the son of the late Mr Moulana AbdurRahim Jahedi, who moved to England in1959. Mohammed Abdul Munim Jahedi’smother is the late Mrs Razia Khanom. Mr Ja-hedi is one of four children.

Mr Jahedi completed his secondary schoolcertificate in Athriya at Lateral High Schoolin 1983. He moved to the UK with his familyin 1984, and then studied a BTEC NationalDiploma in Business and Finance at TowerHamlets College in East London. He alsocompleted a Higher National Diploma inBusiness and Finance.

Currently, he is the chairman of a real estatebusiness called Madina Apartment Ltd andalso a fast food outlet called London FriedChicken. Mr Jahedi is also the director of Al-Hamra Int. Limited, Sylhet Women’s MedicalCollege & Hospital, Ibn Sina Hospital, UnipexTrade & Cooperation Ltd, Halal Taste &Hamadan Restaurant, Madina Tower,Barakah Housing Ltd and Bonolota GreehoNirman Shomobay Shomittee.

He is a life member of Sylhet Muslim SahittoShongshod, Sylhet Mobile Patagar and HillfulFujul Somaj Kallan Songsta. He is the chair-man of Real Estate and Housing Group ofSylhet UK, as well as the editor and Manag-ing Director of the Eurobangla newspaper.He is an executive member of Bangla SahittoPorisohd and Renesha Sahitto Majlish. Hewas the president of the London branches ofthe Young Muslim Organisation and IslamicForum Europe, and is currently a trustee ofLondon Muslim Centre, East LondonMosque and South Sylhet Development Proj-ect. He is also the secretary of the GreaterSylhet Islamic Society.

Mr Jahedi has done a lot of work for charitiesin the UK and Bangladesh, and has estab-lished an Islamic school in his homeland forgirls who cannot afford a basic education.Mr Jahedi is married to Abeda Sultana Lucky,and they have three children – two daugh-ters and a son. Their eldest child is MuneemaSultana Rafaa, their other daughter is calledMaymunah Munim Riyah. Their Son is calledM.A. Muhaimen Rafe.

Mohammed AbdulMunim Jahedi

SECTOR:Media



Misbahul Jamal was born in Subhanighatin Sylhet in 1962. he was born to Mr NasirUddin Ahmed and Mrs Husney Ara Begum.His career began with him being a DramaArtist both on the stage and on radio. Hethen progressed onto becoming a pro-gramme announcer and conductor forRadio Bangladesh from 1980 until 1986,whilst completing a B.Com (Hons) in Man-agement from the prestigious University ofDhaka in 1984.

At the present time Mr Jamal is a presenterand producer for the coveted Sunrise Radioas well as Kismat Radio Bangla.Misbahul is the director of his own produc-tion companies called Misbah Jamal Produc-tions and Misbah Nahida Productions,running Kismat Radio Bangla from the Sun-rise Radio station in Southall, Middlessex.

Mr Misbah Jamal is married to Nahida Mis-bah and they have five daughters and ason. His daughters are Farhana, Rezwana,Nabihah, Shaeka and Labiba, and his son isNahmad. Mr Jamal has contributed enor-mously to the British Bangladeshi commu-nity; he is involved with several communityorganisations working for the development

and progression of community members.He is a Director of Weekly Notun Din, a Ben-gali newspaper. He also holds the positionof Press and Publicity secretary for the Lon-don Bangla Press Club, and Cultural Secre-tary for the Bangladesh Centre in London.

Mr Misbah Jamal is also a journalist andfreelance radio and television presenter.Moreover he is a Bengali cultural pro-gramme promoter, having organised manycultural programmes bringing over thebest musicians and artists from Bangladesh.He is closely connected with theBangladeshi entertainment industry here inBritain, and as a result he is very a popularBritish Bangladeshi amongst radio listeners. Misbahul Jamal

SECTOR:Media and Arts

Rajonuddin Jalal is prominent in theBangladeshi Community for his Communitywork.Mr Jalal has been a community develop-ment specialist in the LondonBoroughof TowerHamlets for the past 30 years. He has openedup many pathways in the field of communityrelations, empowerment and neighbourhoodrenewal and has set up numerous large com-munity and cultural centres and premises in-cluding; Berner Youth and TenantsCentre, KobiNazrul centre, the Bangladesh Centre in Not-ting Hill Gate and more recently theWhitechapel Centre. Mr Jalal has been a pio-neering Youth andCommunity leader and established manyorganisations to benefit multi-cultural com-munities the Bengali Community and to fulfilsome needs and aspirations of the commu-nity. He is the founder of the BangladeshiYouth Movement (BYM) and founder of theFederation of Bangladeshi Youth Organisa-tion (FYBO).His support and hard work for the commu-nity did not stop there, Mr Jalal was vital inhelping to establish Ford Square Mosque,Shadwell Mosque, Brick Lane JammeMosque which are all still operating success-fully in East London.In the public domain Rajonuddin Jalal was

a member of the Board of the London Dock-lands Development Corporation and Coun-cillor and deputy leader of Tower HamletsMunicipality as well as chairperson for theRegeneration Committee.Jalal was a key youth leader in “the Battlefor Brick Lane 1978”, following the murderof Bengali garment worker Altab Ali.He has been the driving force behind theestablishment of Banglatown in Tower Ham-lets, and also the Soheed Minar, and thestructuring of the Social and Economic ac-cord between Tower Hamlets and Sylhet.

Throughout his professional life Mr Jalal hasserved in many positions, in the past he hasbeen a director in the Housing and WelfareOrganisation which was part of St Mary’sWelfare Project. Jalal used to be Employedas an Assistant Principal of Tower HamletsCollege. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree inPolitics,Sociology and Economics from Lon-don Guildhall University and a post graduateDiploma in Management Studies from thesame institution.Jalal is currently secretary of the Altab AliMemorial Foundation In UK and CEO of theNRB Foundation in Bangladesh.Mr Jalal is married with three children.

Rajonuddin Jalal

SECTOR:Politics & CommunityRelations



Sheikh Nurul Islam Jeetu Tarun is a real es-tate businessman. He was born in 1974 inBoaljur Union in the Balaganj Thana of Syl-het. Sheikh Jeetu arrived in London in 1986.At first he got involved in the restaurant busi-ness, but then become involved in the realestate business. He has been serving as afounding director of his development com-pany Royal City.

He established SN Property in the latenineties which has been serving since thenwith repute and honour. In 2007 he starteda business development organisation PrabasiPalli. He is a chairman of the organisation.Presently the organization is going on withthree projects for the non residentsBangladeshis near Dhaka, the ownershipPrabasi, Prabasi Palli and Purbachal PrabasiPalli. Also the Prabasi Palli owned hotel BlackRose and Hotel Fahim International set up inSector 9 of Dhaka are going on with repute.Prabasi Palli has investment plan of aroundthree billion rupees in different sectors ofBangladesh. It has also planned to establisha TV channel in Dhaka, mainly for the non

residents.Sheikh Jeetu has also been serving as thefounding director of Water Lilly Property andShoppingMall inMile End Road, East London.

Sheikh Jeetu got married in 2006 to ShahRumana Islam, the sister of the Euro Foodowner Selim Hossain MBE. He is the fatherof a girl, Sheikh Najifa Islam.

Apart from business, he also served as rtheTreasurer of Balaganj Education Trust. He isnow the treasurer of Boaljur UP Develop-ment Trust. He is also the president of SheikhBatir MiahWelfare Trust which has been pro-viding monthly old age benefit to aroundtwo hundred persons in Sylhet.

Sheikh Jeetu has also planned to set up theSheikh Nurul Islam Jeetu Model School inBanigram. The process of building thisschool has been complete.

Sheikh Nurul IslamJeetu

SECTOR:Real estate

Mrs Mahmuda Kabir is a retired LocalGovernment Official. She holds numorousdegrees. Mrs Kabir completed be BA andMA degrees from the University of Dhakabefore completing Masters in Science fromthe University of Glasgow in 1971. Shewent on to obtain a PhD from StrathclydeUniversity in 1971 and a CQSW qualifica-tion from the University of London threeyears later.

Mahmuda kabir is married to Dr HumayunKabir, and they have two sons Jahangir andAlamgir who are both doctors specialisingin Cardiology.

Mahmuda Kabir was an elected member toILEA Educational Consultative Committeeand also founder of South East LondonBangladeshi Women and Children in theUK, which was instigated for the benefit ofBangladeshi Women and Children in theUK, through this organisation various cul-tural initiatives were implemented. She alsoreceived an award as a longstanding schoolgovernor.

Mrs Kabir has been involved with a host ofcharitable and community organisations

and was a Labour Party Councillor inLewisham in 1990. She was involved withRace Relations, Anti Racism, Education andother sectors with a view to making a differ-ence. She is a member of Community Po-lice Executive Consultative and alsoExecutive Committee Member of Strip andSearch.

In recognition of her hard work, Mrs Kabirhas won several awards including the“Code of Arms” from Lewisham Council aswell as the channel S Award.

Mrs Kabir’s profile appears in Who’s Whopublication including Asian Who’s Who andInternational Who’s Who of Asian Achievers.

Mahmuda Kabir resides in London. Her in-terests include writing, listening to music,reciting poetry and taking part in debates.

Mahmuda Kabir

SECTOR:Community and Voluntary



Sandra Kabir has worked in internationaldevelopment since 1976, predominantly inthe area of women’s development andhealth.

She has vast experience in poverty allevia-tion and people’s empowerment pro-gramme design and implementation, fundraising and advocacy, spanning Asia, Africaand the UK.

In Bangladesh Sandra began her career asa Programme Officer for the south westAsia regional office of FPIA, established anational women’s NGO, played a leadingrole in the NGO movement and worked onthe boards of several NGOs.

She then helped set up EL TALLER a worldwide NGO movement initially based inSpain and then in Tunisia.

Following this in 1995 Sandra moved to theUK where she worked in senior capacitieswith Interact Worldwide, ReproductiveHealth Alliance and ICOMP. From 2006 shehas established BRAC UK a member of theworld renowned NGO, BRAC. BRAC UKworks both locally and internationally and

has gained recognition for its work onmoney management and international de-velopment education in East London.

Sandra Kabir joined the Labour Party in1994. She was a London Borough of BrentCouncillor from 2002 to 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. She is very active in com-munity issues and has considerable casework ranging from immigration to schoolplaces to housing and beyond.

As a councilor, Sandra’s particular areas ofinterest are health, women’s issues and cit-izenship. She is a school governor and amember of several Council committees.

Sandra has been on several Bangladesh andUK Government delegations to interna-tional UN conferences.

She is of British-Bangladeshi heritage, iswidowed, has three adult children and twogrand children.

SandraM Kabir

SECTOR:International Development& Community Relations

Muhammad Abul Kalam was born inBangladesh in 1966. His village is in Sadipur,Osmani Nagar Upazilla, District-Sylhet. Hisfather is businessman Alhaj Mr MohammedMokbul Hussain. His mother is Alhajja MrsSyeda Khanom.

Mr Kalam obtained his Higher SecondarySchool Certificate (HSC) at Madan MohanCollege in Sylhet, where he studied for twoyears. His first major accomplishment camein 1988 when he completed his Bachelor ofLaws (LL.B. Hons) course at the University ofDhaka.This led to the completion of the Master ofLaws (LL.M.) course the following year.

He then continued to pursue his legal careerAs an Advocate of the Supreme Court ofBangladesh since November 1992 by ob-taining the Bar Vocational Qualification fromthe Bangladesh Bar Council. Having com-pleted the academic and vocational stagesof his training, in the year 2000, Mr Kalamwas awarded with a certificate of eligibilityto become a Solicitor of the Supreme Courtof England and Wales in September 2001.

Mr Kalam came to the UK as a student in1995 to study Law at the University of Lon-

don. He then gained experience as a clerk,adviser, consultant and assistant solicitor atBarrister’ Common Law Chambers’, Strat-ford Advice Arcade, J Coopers Solicitors andSJ Solicitors respectively. These were all situ-ated in East London.

Ever Since November 2004, Mr Kalam hasbeen part of the very successful solicitor’sfirm; AK Solicitors in East London. There heheld the position of Principal/Senior Partner.He has now set up his own firm calledKalam Solicitors.

He is the Secretary General of the Society ofBangladeshi Solicitors in UK, which is a prac-ticing solicitors organisation in UK. He alsothe Secretary General of the Dhaka Univer-sity Jalalabad Ex Student Society UK .He is amember of the Probashi Balagonj EducationTrust in UK. He is also members of the Bal-agonj Samitte UK and Greater Sylhet Coun-cil in UK.

Mr Kalam lives in Redbridge, Ilford with hiswife Mrs Shahanara Kalam and three chil-dren; Sabiha, Yeasin and Tayyibah two ofthem students. Mrs Kalam achieved BA(Hons) in Sociology, from the University ofEast London.

MuhammadAbul Kalam

SECTOR:Legal (Solicitor)



Azom Khan is an internationally recognised chef who has devotedmuch of his life to help develop the Bangladeshi Curry Industry towhat it is today. Born in 1962 in Jaganathpur, Sunamgonj inBangladesh, Mr Khan arrived in the UK in 1980.

The East London based chef is looked upon as a pioneer in theBangladeshi culinary industry and throughout his life Mr Khan’s workhas been widely appreciated by several food food critics. Over thelast twenty years Mr Khan has been awarded with major honours inthe Industry such as the International Curry Chef of the Year, Na-tional Curry Chef of the Year, Tesco Spinach Master Chef, SouthwarkCurry Chef of the Year as well as the Tower Hamlets Curry Chef ofthe Year in 1999.

At present, Mr Azom Khan is Director of two of London’s most fa-mous restaurants called the Bengal Clippers and Bengal Traderswhose reputation has enhanced dramatically over the last decadefor their combination of style and modernity.

In addition to his work, Mr Khan is very closely associated with char-ities and organisations in Bangladesh having helped set up the BritishBangla Education Trust where he is currently serving as Vice Chair-man as well as a member of the Sylhet Academy. Mr Khan has alsoset up his own Educational Trust fund, known as “Azom Khan Edu-cation Trust” and is also a member of the Shahjalal College Institute.

One of six siblings, Mr Khan is married to Sultana Aktar Chowdhuryand has been blessed with one son and two daughters whom arestudying in schools and university.

Mr.M. A. Muid Khanwas called to the English Bar as a Barrister-at-Law by the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn after the suc-cessful completion of Bar Vocational Course (BVC) from ICSL CityUniversity. He is a Law Graduate of University of London. He hasa first class in LL.M and High 2.1 in LL.B (Honours), from the pres-tigious Dhaka University. Mr. Khan is a Qualified Legal ExecutiveLawyer of the prestigious ILEX, a Level – 3 Qualified ImmigrationAdvisor of Organisation of Immigration Services Commissioner(OISC) and an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.Mr. Khan is practicing as an Appeal Consultant and PracticeManger for Rest Harrow & Co Solicitors. He is also working as theHead of Bangladeshi Clients Department. He is also working as aPrincipal & Supervisor for an international law firm - the EUMigra-tion Services.Mr Khan specialises in all areas of Defamation, Family Law, Em-ployment Law, Road Traffic Offences, Education Law, Social Secu-rity Law, Bankruptcy Law, Landlord & Tenants, Contract, Fraud,Arbitration, Immigration Law, Human Rights & Fundamental Free-dom, and Judicial Reviews etc. He is highly recommended by theclients and very often was marked out as "one of the best HumanRights lawyers of the United Kingdom" by the ImmigrationJudges. Mr Khan is also an expert in Muslim Family Law, Civil,Criminal and Family Laws of Bangladesh.Mr. Khan originated from a very prestigious family background. Heis the second son of late Prof. A.N.M. Abdul Mannan Khan, Ex-chairman and Senior Professor of the Department of Arabic, Uni-versity of Dhaka. His father was an internationality acclaimedIslamic scholar and Ambassador of World Peace. His elder brotherDr. M. A. Munim Khan is a professor of Open University,Bangladesh. His younger brother Squadron Leader M. A. MuquitKhan is an Air Force Officer in Bangladesh Air Force. His firstbrother-in-law Mr. Jaiynal Abedin is a Professor, second brother-in-law Mr Sharif Lutfur Rahman is a District Judge & third brother-in-law Mr. M. H. Khan is a retired Major of Bangladesh Army.In April 2011, Mr. Khan has made the British-Bangladeshi com-munity proud by winning the Law Society’s prestigious award“Advocacy in the face of Adversity 2011” at the prestigiousBLACK TIE AWARDS DRINKS AND DINNER held at the Law Soci-ety’s prestigious hall room at Chancery Lane. Mr. Khan has be-come the first British-Bangladeshi and one of the top leadinghuman rights lawyers among all the Black & Asian Barristers, So-licitors, Fellows of ILEX and other lawyers by winning this Law So-ciety’s prestigious award. The Honourable Judges selected Mr.Khan for his significant contribution in the field of Domestic Vio-lence and Immigration Rules. Mr. Khan has also obtained variousother prestigious awards and scholarships including the presti-gious Post Graduate Scholarship and Graduate Scholarship fromthe Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka.Mr. Khan is also actively involved in various charitable and Pro-Bono activities. He runs a free legal advice clinic on every Thursdayfor his local community from his Mitcham Office and is known as“Best Asian Lawyer Mr Khan” in the local community.

Azom Khan

SECTOR:Catering

M. A. MuidKhan

SECTOR:Legal



Rabina Khan is a writer and has worked forthe BBC, Channel 4 with a working back-ground in Regeneration and the CreativeArts. In May 2010, Khan as a Labour can-didate won her Shadwell seat where previ-ously a Labour candidate had failed threetimes to win. She was later expelled fromthe Labour Party for her support of the In-dependent Mayor Lutfur Rahman in TowerHamlets.

Khan is now the Cabinet Member of Hous-ing, Development and Renewal for MayorRahman’s administration with a remit fordelivering his Housing pledges.

Cllr Rabina Khan

SECTOR:Politics

Cllr Rania Khan was first elected as aCouncillor in 2006 for the Bromley-by-Bowarea at the age of 23 years, making her oneof the youngest female councillors in thecountry. She is currently a Cabinet Memberfor Culture and a secondary school Scienceteacher. Rania is known for her passion forsocial justice and equality. She has cam-paigned and spoken on various platforms,locally, nationally and internationally. At oneoccasion she addressed 60,000 people atthe climate change conference. Rania regu-larly challenges misconceptions in themedia; her most famous debate was live onRadio 4 with Nick Griffin.

She was born in Libya and came to the UKas a child where she completed her BSc andPGCE in Biology and secondary school sci-ence. She hopes to continue her further ed-ucation especially in the areas of scienceand philosophy. Rania is married, has onesibling and loves spending time with ‘dadu’(grandmother).

Rania is a treasurer for Kingsley Hall, a com-munity centre where Ghandi stayed and is aboard member for various statutory andnon-statutory bodies. Rania has also heldCabinet positions for Regeneration & Part-

nership and Employment & Skills. She is amember of NUT, CAPE (Campaign AgainstPeople’s Exploitation), Liberty and NOS (Na-tional Osteoporosis Society).

Rania Khan enjoys travelling and has a pro-found love for wildlife both flora and fauna.In particular she has a passion for saving ex-tinct animals such as the Royal Bengal Tiger(because she loves tigers), orchids (loves theway they tricks bees into cross pollinating)and bees (for obvious reasons that, withouthoney bees the human race will die withinfour years). Rania also enjoys reading, so-cialising and debating however, on most oc-casions she finds herself reading cabinetand council papers.Cllr Rania Khan

SECTOR:Politics



Dr Shafi Khan, a Croydon Councillor for 15 years was se-lected to stand for parliament at the General Election by theCarshalton andWallington Constituency Labour Party at its An-nual General Meeting on 26th February 2008. The meeting in-cluded delegates from all wards in the constituency who votedunanimously for Dr Khan. Dr Khan was the GLA candidate(London Assembly election - 1st of May 2008) for the seat ofCroydon and Sutton constituency, got about 35thousand votesand became second, overtaking the Liberal Democrats.

Cllr Dr Shafi Khan has lived in Croydon since 1989. He waselected to Croydon Council by Norbury ward in 1994, wherehe has been influential in education and community relations.He has been lead member on Education, Shadow Cabinetmember for Community Cohesion. He became the first AsianMayor of Croydon in 1999-2000. During his Mayoral year hecarried out more than 1000 public engagements including theceremonial opening of Tram Link, leading the borough to theNew Millennium and visiting various business, faith, voluntaryand community groups in Croydon.He used his Mayoral year to strengthen community spirit, toreach out to all communities and to bring faiths, cultures andbusiness together with a common purpose to empower peo-ple. In 1998, he started the “Norbury Mela” in Norbury Park,which because of its success later moved to Lloyds Park andevolved as “Croydon Mela”, which is an envy of South London.He has also secured “Muslim Burial Ground” in Green LawnMemorial Park for Croydon’s Muslim residents.

He is actively involved in Croydon’s wider community life, wellknown and respected. For his support and contribution to thebusiness community, he was elected Hon. Vice President of theCroydon Chamber of Commerce in 2001 and was also awardedthe “World Peace Ambassador” by the faith community.

Shafi was born in Comilla, passed his SSC from Comilla ZilaSchool and HSC from Comilla Victoria College both with somedistinctions. He studied economics at Dhaka University. In 1969he got involved in students politics and was involved in thefreedom movement of Bangladesh as a student leader.

He acquired a Masters degree and a PhD in mathematicalphysics at Moscow Civil Engineering University. He gained ateaching certificate at the Institute of Education, University ofLondon and now works as a mathematics lecturer at TowerHamlets College in East London. He lives in Norbury with hiswife Irina and their daughter Masha.

Helal Uddin Khan came to The UK in 1986. In 1990 Mr.Khan started his first business along with a partner. He estab-lished an Estate Agency business named ‘Class Property Serv-ices’ in Katherine Road, London.

Just after two years he developed a very good relationshipand reputation among the Bangladeshi community. Hestarted his Travel Agency business in the same location during1992. Due to his sincerity, honesty, intelligence, strong deter-mination and dedication he became a very good Travelagency businessman within the shortest possible time. Nowhe is maintaining two independent established offices, oneis in Green Street and another in Whitechapel. Mr. Helal Khanis a very popular person among the Asian community due tohis amiable personality.

Mr. Khan did his H.S.C in Bangladesh in 1985. He also par-ticipates in different training (Reservation and Ticketing)courses in connection with the Travel Agency business. Healso visited many countries around the world under the ed-ucation tour programme sponsored by different Airlines.Presently twelve skilled and unskilled employees are workingin his two establishments.Mr. Helal Uddin Khan is married. He has two daughters andtwo sons. His eldest daughter is now seventeen and readinglaw at Queen Mary University. His second daughter is alsostudying, eldest son are at school as well and the last child.

Mr. Kahn is an associate member of Greater Sylhet Associa-tion since 1995 as well as an active member of BangladeshWelfare Association since 1990. He has been an executivemember of Nurul Haq Education Trust Fenchugong since1993. He is the executive member of Fenchugong Shamite(oldest Association in UK) since 1986 and an executive mem-ber and former Treasurer/Joint Secretary of UK Travel AgentsAssociation. Mr. Helal Uddin Khan is very much interestedabout Bangladeshi Culture. He has participated in andspon-sored various different Bangladeshi cultural activities.

He is very sympathetic to the poor Bangladeshi people. He al-ways extends his hands to support them. He has continuedbeing involved with fund raising initiatives.

Dr Sha: Khan

SECTOR:Academia and Politics

Helal UddinKhan

SECTOR:Travel



Mr Islam Uddin Khan comes from therenowned At-ghar village of JagganathpurDistrict, Sylhet. He is the only son of Md.Alhaj Asab Uddin Khan and they come fromthe Sheikh Kiyam branch direct descendantsof Alhaj Syed Sheikh Shams Uddin, one ofthe saints linked with Shahjalal.

He has a keen interest in Public Law andCriminal Defence. Islam was called to the Barin 2008 by the Honorable Society of InnerTemple and completed his LL.B (Hons) as amature student subsequently specialising inan LL.M in Public Law and Human Rights atKings College, University of London. He wasthe last batch at the Inns Of Court School ofLaw Bar Vocational Course in 2007. He de-ferred his Ph.d in Islamic Law at SOAS, dur-ing completing his pupillage with MarionSmullen, at chambers of Marion Smullenand Kerim Fuad Q.C. specialising in criminaldefence and public law and has been ac-tively involved in the Bibi case, challengingthe UK’s immigration age bar to overseasmarriages.Prior to a career at the Bar, Islam was a juniorcivil servant in various departments at theForeign and Commonwealth Office. This in-cluded the Human Rights Policy Department,the Foreign Office branch of UK-visas (now

substantially UKBA), Consular and headedthe Benefits, pay and policy section of HR. Healso served overseas as a diplomatic officer.

He sits on a number of panels in Tower Ham-lets and advises many charitable organisa-tions across the country. Notably, he wasinvolved in engaging various stakeholders todiffuse the Shajalal mosque fiasco to ensurethat public money was kept safe and avouda dangerous precedent being set. Most re-cently he has been engaged in draftinggrounds in challenging the policy on “main-tenance undertakings”. There has been sig-nificant interest in the case from leadingorganisations in Tower Hamlets and the BBC.His published articles to date are: 1. Interna-tional Law and The legality of the Flotilla raidby Israel; 2. Indirect discrimination by raisingthe marriage age rule to 21; 3. Religious im-plications for Hindu pyres in the UK (Ghaiand Others); 4. FGM: “an Islamic practice ormodern fashion; and 5.Mediation in prac-tice. He has submitted a plan to publish alegal dictionary for the lay person in crimeand hopes this will materialise shortly.He is the proud father of Sadia, Yusuf andhis lovely twins: Aaliyah and Amirah. In hispast times he enjoys reading, sea fishing andtravelling.

Islam Khan

SECTOR:Legal (Barrister)Third sector and Charity

Hussain Ahmed Khanwas born in 1956 inDaripaton Upozilla, Golapgonj, in Sylhet,were he lived throughout his childhoodyears. He is the third child of late Mr NoorUddin Ahmed Khan and Mrs Nurun NessaKhanom. By 1976 Mr. Khan successfully ob-tained his degree in Sylhet. Soon after thisachievement, he left his homeland to moveto the Middle East, where Mr. HussainAhmed Khan was employed by differentcompanies.

Mr. Hussain Ahmed Khan left the MiddleEast for the UK in the year 1986. He spentthe first few years, educating himself on theskill and techniques needed in order to sur-vive in the tough Indian Restaurant business.Little did he know that these new skills thathe had been taught, combined with his en-trepreneurial expertise, he was going tohave a great visible impact onthe Indian Restaurant industry.

Mr Hussain Ahmed Khan’s first proper jobwas when he bought and took over the In-dian restaurant Festival Balti, which was lo-cated in the heart of Birmingham. He andhis partner had a great impact on thechange of business of this restaurant. They

had turned the restaurant over from a reg-ular restaurant, to an extremely popularplace to dine in, with a newly preparedmenu admired by all. He then moved on toopening his second South Indian Restaurantin Walsall, West midlands. Passage to Indiawas the third restaurant Mr. Khan openedwhich was also situated in the heart of Birm-ingham. Hussain Ahmed Khan has played aconstant and active role in charity events notonly in the UK but also in Bangladesh.

Today, Mr. Ahmed Khan is an admired busi-nessman and looked up to by many othersdue to his hard work and determination tosucceed in life. His outstanding achieve-ments have resulted in him receiving theprestigious BBL award for best continuoussuccessful restaurant 2008, earlier this year.Currently he is playing an important role asa Secretary of the Guild of BangladeshiRestauranters. He resides with wife SalmaKhan and two children; Zilhan and Subhan.

Hussain Ahmed Khan

SECTOR:Catering



M A Mannan Khan was born in 1953 inKhan Bari, Kismoth Maizbhag in Golapginj,Sylhet. Whilst being a student at ModhonMohan College in Sylhet Mr Khan became afreedom fighter, and also a cabinet memberof the Chatroleague in Bangladesh.

At Jogonnath College under University ofDhaka in 1977 Mannan Khan completed hisBA degree. After graduating heworked as anassistant teacher and later went on to com-plete his B Ed teacher-training course in 1978.Mr Khan became the chairman of ‘ProvateeShahitto Porishod’, commanding officer of‘Shurjo Shena Shishu Shongo’ and later ajournalist for ‘Sylhet Shomachar’ a localnewspaper in Sylhet.

In 1982Mr Khanmoved to UAEwhere he setup a business. He then migrated to Englandin 1986where heworked at Burleigh Collegein Loughborough as a modern languagesteacher. Mr Khan also was appointed as amodern languages teacher in Moat Collegein Leicester. Subsequently he was a GCSEBengali language teacher at Bengali Commu-nity Education and an examiner under theUniversity of London (EdExcel).Mr Khan has been working for the commu-

nity since 1986, and was the committeemember of the Bengali Community Educa-tion Project and secretary of languageTeacher Association in Leicester. For threeyears Mr Khanwas a radio presenter for Sun-rise Radio.

Mr Khan has established the Awami Leaguein Leicester and served as the founder Secre-tary. Mr Khan has received an invitation toHRM Queens Garden Party for achieving thetitle of one of the high achievingmodern lan-guages teacher in the City of Leicester whichwas recognised by the University of London in2000. Mr Khan received a Channel S Com-munity award in 2006.

Mr Khan is mow the founder president ofSurma Welfare Porishod UK, Vice Chairmanof First Solution Money Transfer Ltd (UK),Senior Vice president of Leicester AwamiLeague, Founder Chairman of BangladeshPoor Fund, Foreign Advisor of Motijeel The-atre in Dhaka, Committee Member of thelocal MosqueMasjid-e-Bitul Mukarram Trust,and he is currently working for Channel S asthere news reporter for Leicestershire.In his spare time Mr Khan likes to writepoems for Magazines and newspapers.

M.AMannan Khan

SECTOR:Education and CommunityRelations

Mashuk Ahmed Khan is the eldest son of Mo-hammed Matiur Rahman Khan and BegumJamila Khan of an academically enriched re-spectable Muslim family of landed gentry andsuccessful entrepreneurship, formerly of villageGangajal, Zakigonj, of district Sylhet.

Ahmed Khan is married to Shamim Ara Begum(Rose) - daughter ofMohammed Shafiqul Haqueand Jahan Ara Chowdhury of Purush Pal, Beani-bazar, Sylhet.Mr &Mrs Khan have three children;a son and two daughters, namely: Mustafa,Nabila, and Farzana. The son is in pursuit of legalprofession. The older daughter is at University -studying Accounting and Finance, and theyounger one is in sixth form at an independentschool in Northamptonshire.

By profession AhmedKhan is a Chartered HumanResource Consultant and amainstream academicwith membership of the Chartered Institute ofPersonnel and Development (CIPD), and The Uni-versity of Oxford Philosophical Society. He is alsoa political critique, columnist, a Rotarian, and anauthor gifted with literary skills. His debut publi-cation of the poetry book “A Phantom of Ro-mance” comprised of poems of love and passion.His patriotic poems “In the love of my nation”and “My heart cries for the fallen” composed inretrospect to Bangladesh liberation war and itspost independence political crises were publishedin the Bangla Mirror Newsweekly, London (is-

sues:237& 316 ) and Sylhet Madan Mohan Uni-versity College Bengali Literary Council’s publica-tion “Katha Lata”(issues: 4&5 ) as well as inSylhet Mobile Pataghar’s narrative publication“Chayalap”(issues: 283&284) correspondingly.Ahmed Khan - a family-centric, spatio-temporallySpartan, vivacious individual avid to his continuedself-development. Following successful comple-tion of his MPhil research he has re-assigned hisacademic interest from HRM to Law and joinedthe LLM programme at the University of London,Birkbeck College, with sustained enthusiasm todevelop a comprehensive knowledge of the legalconcepts.

He has five younger brothers. The immediateyounger one went abroad before achievinghigher education – albeit returned home later.The other four have achieved single andmultipleMasters Degree in various disciplines, respectively,from reputable Universities at home (Dhaka &Chittagong) and overseas (UK &USA). They nowreside in the UK and USA - occupied in differentprofessions.

AhmedKhanasserts himself adevout“BritishMus-lim” – proudly upholding his religious values andtraditions –while profoundly deferential to synony-mous interests of all other social groups inBritish so-ciety. His pastimes are: reading books, watchingfactual movies, travelling, and listening TagoreSongs, Urdu Ghazals, Mozart and Pavarotti.

MASHUK AHMED KHANM.Phil., M.A., B.A.(Hons), PGDip.(HRM), Ad. Dip. (Mgt.), MCIPD

SECTOR:Academia


Md. Shamsuddin khan was born in 1935in Matiura, under the Bianibazaar Upazillain Sylhet. He is the second son of late HajiTaj Khan and Tayamunnessa Khanom. Mr.Khan primarily worked at an English restau-rant when he arrived in the UK in 1955,aged 20. It was in 1958 when he started hisfirst business when he opened a restaurant,which he called Moharani. This restaurantis situated in Clapham Common, is one ofthe most famous and old restaurants in theUK. Two other branches of the Moharanirestaurant have been opened ever since,one located in Clapham North and one inCamden Town. Mr. Khan is one of the own-ers of a large grocery store named KushiaraCash and Carry in the East End of London.On top of that, he has an enormous invest-ment in the tea estates in Sylhet and alsoowns several houses in London.

Founding member of the BianibazaarJanakallyan Samity UK, of which he is nowthe advisor, and also a trustee of the HistoricBangladesh Centre in London, Mr. Khan isinvolved in various political and socio-cul-tural organizations, both in Bangladesh andthe UK. In addition he has played a key rolein the establishment of Bianibazaar College,

by donating money towards it. MathiuraHigh School and Mathiura Girls’ HighSchool are two of many educational institu-tions of which Md. Shamsuddin Khan is apatron. Furthermore, he was the chairmanof the College Development Committee fora long period of time.

Before all this, Mr. Khan’s political careerbegan with Pakistan Welfare Associationwhich later become Bangladesh WelfareAssociation. Inspired by Sheikh Mujib, healso decided to join the Awami League onceit had been set up in the UK. Throughouthis role in the Awami league changedfrom the treasurer, to the vice president. Heplayed a significant role throughout the Lib-eration War in 1971 by fundraising. Duringthe 1970 elections, he was the AwamiLeague candidate in the Bianibazaar-Golap-gonj constituency.

Here, in the UK, Shamsuddin Khan is amember of the Labour party.At present, Md. Shamsuddin Khan Resideswith his wife Mrs. Safarun Nesa Khanomand their three children.

Md. Shamsuddin Khan

SECTOR:catering and Politics

Oli Khan, Internationally recognised awardwinning celebrity chef and successful entre-preneur, was born in 1973 to A Village ofPathantula, Rajnagar Upozila, MoulvibazarDistrict. Oli Khan has bagged many highhonors and will doubtless bag many morefor his adventurous, exciting and ingeniousapproach. Oli Khan won the National CurryChef of the year for 2002/03 By CIEH andFSA. The British Bangladeshi Fusion FoodFestival for 2005-06. He also took top hon-ors at the British Fusion Food Festival inIndia in the same year. Oli also captured theBritish Fusion Food Festival 2008 and servedthe president of Bangladesh. He wasCrowned Curry Chef of the year twice inStevenage, where he runs the Surma Groupof Takeaway and Spice Rouge. The localnewspapers described Oli Khan as the‘Curry King of Hertfordshire’. Scores on theDoors Surma in Luton achieve five Stars in2007 which was first Indian Takeaway in UKto get five out of five hygiene stars by LocalCouncil on following year Surma in Seve-nage achieve five stars.

Oli started his first business in 1989 at theage of 17 in St Albans called TandooriKnight at the same time he studied in busi-ness management at Barnfield College in

Luton. In 1996 Oli completed a computerliteracy course, following which he obtainedDiploma in IT (Information Technology) andWD (Web Design). In 2002 he got an ad-vanced certificate in Food Hygiene andother advance catering related courses. In2008 he got passed the diploma in multi-skilled food processing, cooking, manage-ment and first aid. In 2011 he completedConflict Management and PL; He is also aqualified Food Hygiene Trainer.

Oli’s total achievement gained him ‘BestCaterer of the Year 2010’ at the golden ju-bilee celebration of Bangladesh Caterers As-sociation UK. Some of his popular recipesare regularly published by Cury Life, SpiceTimes, and other Asian magazine andWeb-site across the Country. Oli also featured inTV show like ITV, BBC Look East, Channel S,Bangla TV, Zee Café and BTV in Bangladesh.

Oli also finds time for charitable works. Heis the founder chairman of Oli’s Foundationest in 2002, Founder and general secretaryof the Moulvibazar District Council, Chair-man of Soft Investment Group, Vice Chair-man of BCA UK, Founder and Treasurer ofthe BBBF, MD of Oli’s Properties, foundationmember of L & D NHS Hospital Trust.

Oli Khan

SECTOR:catering and communityrelations




Tasmin Lucia Khan is a BBC News Presenter and Journalist with over8 years of on-screen experience. She is currently the face of BBC ThreeNews bulletins and presents ‘E24’ on the rolling BBC News Channel,formerly known as BBC News 24

Tasmin graduated from Oxford University with an Honours degree inPolitics, Philosophy and Economics. It was then Tasmin became akeen debater, nurtured her passion for current affairs, and specialisedin International Relations.Tasmin joined the BBC News team in London after three years atChannel Five, producing and presenting Sports programmes. Shewas also the London News Correspondent for PTV News, coveringthe UK’s biggest news stories to a worldwide Asian audience.

Tasmin’s presenting career began in 2000 at the Zee TV Network.She fronted and produced a variety of entertainment shows. Latershe hosted her own talk show interviewing film and music celebri-ties, politicians, businessmen and sports personalities.Away from the camera, Tasmin is actively involved in charities thatare close to her heart. She has worked in educational projects whichhelp children in developing countries to better their lives.Tasmin really enjoys delivering the nightly ‘World News’ bulletins onBBC Three in 60 Seconds. She says ‘’It’s an instant hit of informationupdating you with what’s happening around the world. You get tosee global events, seen through the eyes of news stations aroundthe world including CNN, Fox News, Al Jazeera, China’s CCTV, andAl Arabiya.”

On the BBC News Channel, she particularly likes the interviews,where she gets to grill her guests in the studio.

Zakir Khanwas born in Bangladesh and came to England aged 5 with his par-ents. He grew up in Tower Hamlets, east London, where he became a youthworker and community representative. Since 2000 he has worked for CanaryWharf Group, first as Sports and Community officer and now as Head of PublicAffairs.In 2010 Zakir was the Conservative PPC for Bethnal Green and Bow, securingan increase in the Conservative vote in this highly marginal and politicallycharged seat.

Zakir has a deep andwide understanding of Bangladesh, and in particular has ex-perience of helping set up new charitable initiatives on the ground. He has agood relationship with all the political parties in Bangladesh and good links insuch fields as sport, media, business, education, manufacturing, and universities.In the UK Zakir has worked for the public, private and voluntary sectors, and hasbuilt up a positive programme of bringing these different sectors together to de-liver projects. Zakir has been involved in community work since he was ateenager. In 1990, aged 19, he was the co-founder and Chair of Community Ac-tion Group, a campaign group for local young people to help represent their in-terests to statutory and police authorities and to help reduce tension betweencommunities.

He was also elected Vice Chair for Youth Connections another youth campaigngroup that was collectively formed by all major youth groups in Tower Hamlets.Zakir was elected by the community to represent them as a Board Member ofthe Connecting Communities SRB 5, and Cityside Regeneration in Spitalfields,He is the current Vice Chair of the Osmani Centre User’s Forum,He was a Director of The Adab Trust. This is a new initiative established to in-crease employment prospects for inner city young black and minority ethnicpeople and specifically those from Asian and Muslim backgrounds.

He was also an ambassador for Touch The Game project. This is a unique projectthat collects unused sports equipment from residents in the UK and deliversthem to the most deprived countries in the world such as Africa and the Indiansub continent.2010 General Election was selected as Conservative Party Parliamentary Can-didate for Bethnal Green and Bow in Tower Hamlets, securing a 2% increasein the Conservative vote despite only being selected in late March 2010.Since formally joining the Party in 2006, Zakir has been actively working to pro-mote the Conservative party within the Bangladeshi UK community. in Jan 2010organised a delegation to Bangladesh led by Mark Field MP.Zakir was successful in arranging meetings for the delegates with the PrimeMinister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, Ex Prime Minister now OppositionLeader Begum Zia, The British High Commissioner and many other Membersof The Bangladeshi Parliament. He is the current Chairman, ConservativeFriends of Bangladesh (CFOB) London Region. In 1996 he co-founded SportingBengal Football Team and was the manager of the team for four years in hisspare time.

In 1997 Zakir spear headed the formation of The Bangladesh Football AssociationUK As the Chair of the organisation he established a summer football leaguewith just eight teams which now has 46 teams.Asian Football League Manager of the Year 1996, 1997, 1998.He has received a Tower Hamlets Sports Council Certificate for outstandingachievements in Sports in 1997. He received a Community Achievement Awardfrom the Mayor of Tower Hamlets in 2004.He has been awarded a Voluntary Achievement Award from the BangladeshFootball Association UK in 2008.In year 2000, 2001 and 2002 Zakir invited football teams from Bangladesh to visitLondon. He organised gameswithWest Ham and Chelsea.Mohamadan SportingClub, Abahani Football Club and Chittagong have benefited from these visits.

TasminLucia Khan

SECTOR:Media

Zakir Khan




Taryn Khanam is the Chief Executive of Brit-Bangla, the prestigious organisation set upspecifically to highlight the British Bengali talentsand achievements. Taryn’s bold venture provedto be a phenomenal success, and today Brit-Bangla boasts more than 1000 ambitious mem-bers from all sections of British life includingbusiness, media, teaching, finance and the pub-lic sector. It provides a platform to reflect theviews and aspirations of second and third gen-eration Bengalis growing up within a dual cul-ture. BritBangla acts as a source of inspiration,empowerment and enriches the Bengali com-munity through mutual support and positivepromotion.

Taryn’s relentless efforts over the years, has nowsuccessfully achieved in raising the Bengali pro-file to the mainstream British society.Not surprisingly, some of the nation’s most in-fluential media organisations, including the BBCand Channel 4, have picked up on BritBangla’sunique success.Taryn actively promotes BritBangla by establish-ing links with businesses, Non-GovernmentalOrganisations, government, education and arts.She developed partnerships for organisationshighlighting significant issues and trends thatare important to the community. Her work en-tails engaging the community to highlight theenvironmental challenges faced by Bangladesh

and to encourage deeper involvement of British-Bangladeshis in campaigns on climate changein the UK. Taryn is a dynamic and well-recog-nised personality within the Bengali media andbusiness community, known for her dedicationfor helping the community and an activefundraiser for a number of leading charities. Sheregularly visits Bangladesh to offer support to anall girls’ orphanage and community projects.As part of her role, she has established stronglinks with the Bengali media and her frequentmedia relations has advanced the proliferationof BritBangla here in UK and abroad.

She was invited by the US Department of Stateto participate in their prestigious InternationalVisitors Leadership Programme; aimed at foster-ing greater understanding between foreign na-tions and the people of the United States. Sheis a committee member of the John Adams So-ciety and the Full Picture Club.In addition, an active supporter of volunteeringin the community, she volunteers at theMigrantResource Centre, Westminster delivering Em-ployability Workshops for asylum seekers, mi-grants and refugees.Taryn has a Masters’ degree in environmentalscience from Brunel University, and a Diploma inPublic Relations from London School of PublicRelations. Her interests include travel, yoga, an-cient history and current affairs.

TARYN KHANAM

SECTOR:COMMUNITY &MEDIARELATIONS s

Shiria Khatun, was one of the short listed mayoralcandidate of Labour in Tower Hamlets, is an interest-ing example of the empowerment of Bangladeshiwomen in UK. As a working mother of four childrenattending local state schools she is utterly rooted inthe UK-Bangladeshi community.

Shiria was born in Birmingham raised and educated inTower Hamlets. Her parents, Late Haji MohammedMokis and Late Joytera Khatun came to UK in late 50’s.Both her father and mother passed away when shewas just a teenager. She is married with a young familyher 9 year old son is a School Councillor, her husbandMr Lutfur rahman is an Outreach Worker in Poplar.She started her community service when she was just11 years old by writing official letters for neighbourswho needed help in wring English letters. Eventually,she deeply involved in politics by protesting againstracism and inequality.She was elected as a Councillor for East India & Lans-bury ward in May 2006. Soon after getting elected,Shiria was appointed by the former Mayor of LondonKen Livingstone as his Adviser for Transport for London.

She is a member of Regional Party selection panel forLG Candidates (Ealing, Newham, Haringey), Shiriaconstantly works to increase the engagement andparticipation of women and all Tower Hamlets’ manyBME communities in the Labour Party. She is a highlyregarded IDeA Peer Mentor and has presented work-shops to large audiences at Warwick University’s Lead-ership Centre.

She has been a Board Member of London PensionFund Authority which has given her extensive financialoversight experience.Shiria qualified as a Peer Assessor from the Leadership

Centre last year and has facilitated sessions as a Lec-turer at Warwick University on empowering women into public roles. Shiria represents the council on manycommittees as well as external boards she is also theMedia & Communication’s Officer for Tower HamletsLabour Group.

She has extensive experiences outside of politics in thepublic, private and voluntary sectors. She is a YouthEmployment Specialist for The Working Well Trust, aWork Placement Scheme Coordinator in St. Hilda’sEast Community Centre, has been a TV Presenter/Re-searcher/Script Writer, Bangla TV in 2005, a Youth En-terprise Coordinator in Leaside Regeneration Ltd, aLansbury Estate Board member from 2003, a ProjectManager in The Children’s Society (Children’s Voiceproject), a Centre Coordinator in Peabody Trust – TheSundial Centre and a Senior Mental Health Care As-sistant in St Clements Hospital.

Shiria is an experienced public speaker. She success-fully engages audience right across the community –but she also has the clout necessary to get results lo-cally and nationally as a Lead Member.

As a presenter for weekly television programme sheinvited young people and Labour politicians for indepth interviews which helped to promote the partyin the Bengali community both locally and nationally.

Cllr Shiria Khatun

SECTOR:Politics



Dr Nazia Khanum has a BA (Hons) and MA in Political Sciencefrom Dhaka University and a PhD in History from the School ofOriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Sheruns Equality in Diversity, an international management and re-search consultancy. Her jobs include: lecturer at University ofDhaka; Commonwealth Speaker and Teaching Fellow at Com-monwealth Institute, London; Education Officer at Luton Com-munity Relations Council; Head of Equalities in Greater LondonCouncil (Housing), Tower Hamlets Borough Council (Housing),Inner London Education Authority (Employment), Ealing Bor-ough Council (Education) and Bedfordshire County Council (Ed-ucation, Resources, Research and Community Development);Senior Health Promotion Officer in Bedfordshire Health Promo-tion Agency.

Working closely with national and local government and com-munity groups, she has given evidence to Parliamentary SelectCommittee Inquiries into Bangladeshi community’s needs, Ter-rorism/Violent Extremism and Domestic Violence, Forced Mar-riage & Honour-based Violence. Her publications includepoems, short stories, articles, research papers and good practiceguides on: equality in employment, bullying and harassment,forced marriage, discrimination on grounds of race, gender, dis-ability, faith, class etc, engagement with black and minority eth-nic communities, needs and aspirations of Bangladeshi youngwomen, smoking, fostering, climate change and so on. She hasspoken extensively on wide-ranging socio-economic issues atnational and international conferences, seminars and work-shops and participated on TV and radio programmes. Her pas-sion and achievements in promoting peace, equality, justice andhuman rights, especially for traditionally disadvantaged groupslike ethnic minorities and women, have been recognised by nu-merous awards including: OBE from the Queen, honorary PhDfrom the University of Bedfordshire, Kabi Mozammel HaqueFoundation, Rotary Club - Dhaka West, Asiatic Society ofBangladesh, the Mayor of Luton, Luton Committee for RacialHarmony (predominantly African Caribbean), Luton Forum

(Local Strategic Partnership), Pakistan Kashmir Youth Forum,House of Lords Honours Dinner, Gujarati Mitra Mandal,Bangladesh Youth League, Purbachal – the eastern sky, LutonBangladeshi Community, Grassroots (Christian), Luton Councilof Faiths, Community Development Foundation, Luton in Har-mony, Luton Training and Mentoring (Indian-led).

Her activities include: Government Equalities Office’s NationalAmbassador for Equality and Diversity in Public Appointments;Governor, Luton Sixth Form College; Non-Executive Director,Luton Primary Care Trust; Trustee, Luton All Women’s Centre;Equalities Adviser to Bedfordshire Probation Service; Memberof National Muslim Women’s Network UK; founder Chair ofUnited Nations Association – Luton, Luton Bangladesh HelpingHand (LBHH), Luton Multicultural Women’s Coalition, Purbachal– the eastern sky and Luton Multiagency Steering Group onForced Marriage & Violence Against Women; Member ofLuton Equality, Inclusion and Cohesion Group (until 2011), Pre-venting Violent Extremism Community Reference Group, Luton(until 2010), Luton Commission on Community Cohesion(2010-2011), the government’s National Muslim Women’s Ad-visory Group (until 2010). Thinking Partner of the Departmentof Health’s national programme – Race for Health (until 2007),board member of Bedfordshire Learning & Skills Council (until2007), governor of two schools (until 2003).

As founder chair, she is an integral part of LBHH’s charitablework for the victims of natural disasters across the world in-cluding Bangladesh (10 educational and health projects in Syl-het and rebuilding of 115 houses and a high school/cycloneshelter in Sri Ghat, Bagerhat), Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar,Haiti & Sudan. She is married to Dr David Cheesman (PhD inHistory from SOAS). Their son -Tareen has an M Sc in Economicsfrom the London School of Economics and Political Science -LSE, University of London. Dr Khanum is proud to have a familywhich is not only fully supportive of her work but also sharesthe same ideals of democratic and humanitarian principles.

Dr Nazia Khanum, OBE

SECTOR:Research & Academia



Mr. S.H. Khurshed is the chief editor of FilmAsia, the film making company based in EastLondon. He was born in Kamalganj, MoulviBazar of Bangladesh and completed his B.A.from Moulvi Bazar Degree College. His Fa-ther is Al haj Md. Ishaqe Miah and mother isJohura Khatun.

Mr. Khurshed came to the UK in 1998. Heexcelled as the editor of Film Asia whichthrives to be one of the most prominent filmmaking company of Asian weddings andother events. The company does not use theterm ‘Bespoke cinematography’ lightly. Theycreate something to cherish, a project that isunique to any client.

In Mr. Khurshed’s words, ‘at Film Asia , werecognize the importance of our creationsfor each client, we recognize the individualrequirements for each client differs from oth-ers, and in turn we recognize that the ap-proach undertaken in our editing can onlystand out from anything else available. TheFilm Asia perfection process is no gimmick;the unique concepts crated by our expertsare only possible through a desire to deliverto you…perfection’.Film Asia mainly produces wedding videosfor Asian grooms and brides. They also pro-

duced a ghazal night with Alaur Rahmanand the British Bangladeshi Who’s Who pro-gramme in 2009 and 2010. With brillianteditors, graphic designers, cinematographersand event coordinators, the group has beena raving success in the film business of EastLondon.

Mr. Khurshed lives with his family in Fallow-field, London. His wife’s name is JubedaKhatun Haque. They have three sons, JalaHaquel, Jahan Haque and Jahia Haque, andtwo daughters, Jynat Haque and JannatHaque.

S.H Khurshed

SECTOR:Media and Entertainment

Khatun Sapnara is a barrister and part timeJudge. In 1988 she graduated with an LL.B(Hons) from the prestigious London School ofEconomics and Political Science (University ofLondon) and was called to the Bar in 1990.

She practises from Coram Barristers Cham-bers in London and specialises in family law.In 2006 she was appointed as a Recorder ofthe Crown which makes her the onlyBangladeshi in a senior judicial position.

In 2004 Khatun Sapnara was appointed bythe Lord Chancellor to the Family JusticeCouncil which is a body of experts to adviseGovernment on all aspects of the family jus-tice system and assisted in formulating anddrafting the Forced Marriage Act 2007.She was also the first ethnic person to beelected to the Family Law Bar AssociationCommittee in 2003.

Khatun Sapnara was born in Sylhet and cameto the UK as a child. She is the daughter oflate Mimbor Ali, a highly respected memberof the Bangladeshi community, honoured bythe Bangladeshi Government for his signifi-cant contribution to the liberation ofBangladesh.

Khatun Sapnara has served as Director /Chairof a number of charities and voluntary sectororganisations and lectures widely on issuesrelating to family law. She is married with twochildren.

Sapnara Khatun

SECTOR:Legal (Barrister and Judge)



A talented and creative director of one of UK’sleading ethnic media agency, Medialink,MinhajKibriyah is a multi-skilled Asian business entre-preneur.

Minhaj’s media career began as a junior designerat the Daily Jung newspaper. He quickly excelledand joined Britain’s largest ethnic media com-pany, Ethnic Media Group, as a Senior ProductionDesigner.After leaving Ethnic Media Group, Minhaj wentinto partnership with Mr Mujibul Islam to formMedialink in 1999. Since then Minhaj Kibriyahhas been producing some of the most popular TVcommercials that have been broadcasted on Eu-rope’s Asian satellite channels for which the com-pany has won numerous awards for best TVcommercial maker.He also produced and directed the hugely suc-cessful tele-film ‘Ononto Opekka’, which was aninternational hit.

The tele-film depicts a Bangladeshi visitor’sarranged marriage to a British Bangladeshi girl.Soon afterwards he produced and starred in‘Shesh Hobena Kono Din’, which was based onBangladeshi politics in the UK. ‘Shesh HobenaKono Din’ brought him best actor and bestdrama award.

Minhaj worked with the BBC to deliver a multimillion pound super-hit tele-film 'England Ex-pects' which addressed the issue of tacklingracism. The film had major riots scene orches-trated by Minhaj, it featured 100s of Asiansyouths and the BNP fighting. The film starred ac-tors Steven Mackintosh of ‘Lock, Stock and TwoSmoking Barrels’ fame, Keith Barron, Preeya Kali-das of Bombay Dreams’ fame, Susan Vidler andSadie Thompson and two actors which camethrough Medialink's training programme; SadiqulIslam who played Rashel (main role) and EmranHussain Ali who played Mohammed in the film.

Minhaj Kibriyah’s creativity and dynamic visionhas earned him a reputable position within theAsian Film and Media industry.

Minhah’s strengths lie in the fact that the he hasa grass roots understanding of the diverse issuesthat ethnic communities face. He is keen to en-gage and encourage ethnic communites to par-ticipate in creative media and has demonstrateda successful record to date in doing so with manyof the hard to reach communities.

Minhaj Kibriyah

SECTOR:Media and Business

Mohammed Abul Lais is a successful businessman,outstanding community organiser andwell-known phi-lanthropist in Berkshire. He left for the UKwhen hewasonly 16 and entered professional life. Alongsideworkinghe continued to study. For his sincere and hard labouron the one hand he attained success in his business andon the other being the elder son of the family he edu-cated all his younger brothers and sisters and thus heset an example to be followed by others.

Born on February 23rd 1960MohammedAbul Lais hailsfrom the village Amria of Durgapasha Union of SadarThana under Sunamganj district. His father late AlhajAbul Bashor Md. MashukMiah was a restaurant traderin the UK. He was a philanthropist who came over tothe UK in 1963. He was killed in a tragic road accidentin the UK in 1994. His mother is Mrs Badrunnesa. Thefamily consist of three brothers and four sisters and heis the eldest.

After appearing at the SSC Exam in 1975 in this Schoolhe left for the UK alongwith other family members. Onarrival in the UK he started serving in restaurants and atthe same time continued his studies. And in this way hedid O’ Level and A’ level in Accountancy and also com-pleted B-tech national diploma.Mohammed Abul Lais began his first business in 1978in Newbury, Berkshire. This restaurant namedCurry Gar-den and run on partnership still remains operative. Heestablished this Curry Garden at Tadely in Hampshire in1982 on partnership basis and again in 1985 he estab-lished ‘Rajdoot Restaurant’ in Cirencester Town inGloucestershire on partnership. In 1991 he establisheda company named Eurasia Frozen Product. He estab-lished a first Thai and Bangladeshi restaurant named‘Café Blue Cobra’ in the small town Theale in greaterReading area in 1996.Mohammed Abul Lais is also a philanthropist. He is one

of the founders of Basingstoke Islamic Society. Initially hewas the founding secretary of this organization and lateron he served as president for 3 years. He is also thefounding member of Redding Central Jame Masjid es-tablished and run by the Bangladeshis. Besides, he is themember of Basingstoke Chambers & Commerce,Thames valley Chambers of Commerce, BangladeshBritish Chambers of Commerce and the Guild ofBangladeshi Restaurateurs in UK.

He has made special contributions towards the estab-lishment and development of AmriaMadrassa based inhis own village. During the devastating flood in 1988and in 1991 he raised funds 1400 pound and 11 thou-sand pound respectively and sent it to Bangladeshthrough British Red Cross Society for the flood affectedpeople.

MohammedAbul Lais and his brother AbsarMd.Waesshave established a family trust after their father’s name.From this trust named “Alhaj AB Masuk Miah Founda-tion” quarterly education stipend is regularly being pro-vided to the poor andmeritorious students of the AmriaMadrassa since 1994. Primary scholarship has been in-troduced under the auspices of this Foundation in 1998.Mohammad Abul Lais is the trustee of this Foundationwhile his all brothers and sisters are the members.

MohammadAbul Lais gotmarried in 1984with NazmaKhatun Qureshi, and they are blessed with two daugh-ters and one son. First daughter Shumana Lais obtainedHonours degree in investment Banking and finance,from Reading University, currently working for KPMG asan auditor and also studing ACA, 2nd daughter SaeeraLais is in secondary school. Son Shumel Lais, is studyingBusiness and marketing in Bournmouth University.

MohammadAbul Lais

SECTOR:Catering



Mohammed Liton was born in 1964 inGourkaran, Kulaura Upzailla, in Moulvibazar dis-trict. He is the son of DrMASahid (Rtd PostMas-ter) and Mrs Saleha Sahid. Mr Liton’s earlyeducation was begun in Juri primary School. Hecompleted Secondary Education in N C HighSchool Kulaura and higher secondary educationin Kulaura DegreeCollege. During studying com-merce degree course in Kulaura Degree Collegehe went to USA to study BBA at Wisconsin Uni-versity in 1987.

Mr Liton settled to London in 1990, lived in Cam-den started his career in catering. After five yearshe decided to move Scottish capital Edinburgh.By the 1987,Mr Liton opened a first Bangladeshirestaurant in Penicuik of Midlothian councilwhich was named Clippers..In the meantime, he gained useful experienceworking in different places. He also volunteeredwith Citizen Advice Bureau and helped manyBangladesh people from his voluntary capacity.Recently, Mohammed Litonwon themost presti-gious ‘Best Community Contribution Award2010’ given by Edinburgh Evening News news-paper. The winners have been announced in aceremony was held at the Holyrood Road, headoffice of the newspaper on 10th August 2010.TheBestCommunityContribution award receivedmore than 3000 nominations while more than.Mohammed Liton, Member of EdinburghBangladesh Association, has raised for a number

of causes, including the Edinburgh Sick Kids hos-pital and children's cancer charity, Clic Sargent incollaborationwith local girl Chirsty Harrisonwhowas diagnosed with cancer several years ago.Mr Liton, 45, is a devoted sponsor of many oflocal civic events, including Penicuik’s annual galaday, amateur football club and even the localrugby club. He has also recently sponsored theBeeslack Thistle Football Club, Air TrainingCorps,Eskmill Boys Club, Beeslack All Stars DisabledSports Club, March Burn Playgroup, PenicuikHearts Supporters Club, Penicuik Athletic FC andPenicuik Rugby Club.

Philanthropist Mr Liton is always keen to lend ahand with fundraising efforts for deservingcauses and even invites primary school kids to hisrestaurant, TheClippers, to learn the Bangladeshiculture through cuisine and skills of cooking.Mr Liton is married with Kadira Begum.He has two sons and one daughter. His eldest sonNazrul is now studying law at Dundee University,second son Habibul is studying in SterwartMelville College and younger daughter is inCraigmount high school.Mr Liton believes through hard work and perse-verance anything can be achieved and is a firmbeliever in giving back to the community forwhich the restaurateur is widely recognised forhis generosity and hospitality.

Mohammad Liton

SECTOR:Catering and communityrelations

Taysir Mahmud is very well known in theBritain Bangladeshi community as a com-mitted professional journalist. He is servingas the Executive Editor of the 21 year oldBengali Newspaper, weekly Notun Din.

Mr. Mahmud was born in 1974 at VobaniPur village of the Moulvi Bazar district, Bar-lekha Upozella, under Shahbaz Pur Union.His father Alhaz Muhammad Abdul Motlibis a respected person in the area. Mr. Mah-mud passed SSC in 1993 and HSC in 1995both in first divisions. He passed the Kamil(The highest degree of Madrasha educa-tion) in 1999. At the same time he took aBA degree from the Sylhet MC UniversityCollege.

As a student he became involved in journal-istic activities as a staff reporter on the DailySylhet Bani newspaper at Sylhet, He wenton to become the sub-editor for the news-paper. He later established a powerful newsagency in Sylhet named Media line. At onestage Mr. Taysir was at daily Jalalabad news-paper as Senior staff reporter. At the sametime he worked as a Programme Compilerin the Radio Bangladesh, Sylhet Centre. He

was a permanent member of the SylhetPress Club.In the past, Mr. Mahmud had also set up acompany called Al Saiyyan Private Limitedwith thirty directors. He was chair of thecompany.

Mr. Mahmud arrived in UK in 2003. Hestarted his career as a News Editor in NotunDin. In 2007 he was appointed as the Exec-utive Editor of the paper.

Mr. Mahmud got married in 2006 toFarhana Mahmud, the daughter of the re-spected community leader Atik Miah ofHazipur Golapgonj, Farhana Mahmud is aScience teacher at a secondary school inEast London. They are the parent of twochildren, Jibreel Mahmud and Sarah Mah-mud. The family resides in Bethnal Green.

Taysir Mahmud

SECTOR:Media



Dr. Abdul Malik has achieved many qualifications through-out the years, all of which have been well earned and verydeserving. He studied in the University of Dhaka inBangladesh were he gained a BSc. Honours in Chemistry in1967, and then a MSc. in the same subject a year later. Hethen arrived in the UK where he continued studying, in aUniversity in London. Here, he also got a PhD and an MSc.

He was an Associate Professor and a Professor of Chemistryin the University of Dhaka for 13 years from 1980 to 1993.Earlier, in 1975, he was a lecturer in Science for HackneyTechnical College and then in 1975-1980, he became theResearch Associate in Queen Mary College. Afterwards, Dr.Malik was a Lecturer in Chemistry and Service Manager ofNational Crystallography Research Centre, in University ofWales Cardiff from 1991-2003.

Dr. Abdul Malik has also been writing for various Bangla andEnglish newspapers published in both England and inBangladesh. He has written 380 research papers on the sub-ject of Chemistry as well as published 3 books on contem-porary political and social issues.He is Founder and Management Committee Chair of Sahera-Nasir Vocational, Technical and Agricultural College, Chairof Bangladesh Educational and Cultural Society in Cardiff,the Adviser of International Expatriates Welfare Society,Trustee of Dr. Tayeeb Hossain Foundation, and Joint Con-venor of ‘Save the Bangladesh Rivers’ campaign based in theUK. He was the General Secretary of Bangladesh ChemicalSociety and a campaigner for the Bangladesh LiberationStruggle.Moreover, Dr. Malik is a professional Member of Royal So-ciety of Chemistry and Chartered Chemist, a life member ofBangladesh Chemical Society and Bangladesh Associationfor the Advancement of Science.

The award for Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Gold Medalwas given to him in 1988. He won the Third World Academyof Science prize, the Justice Ibrahim memorial Gold Medal,Hari Prasanna Roy Gold Medal and the Mithapur HighSchool Gold Medal to name a few.

At present, he lives with his wife and three daughters and isthe Chair of Bangladesh Swadhinata Gobeshana Kendro andBangladesh Educational and Cultural Society.

Md. Abdul Malik (Parvez) was born in Sylhet town. The eldestson of Alhaj Dr Abdul Motin and Mrs Afrujun Nessa Khatun. Pater-nal roots from village of Monirgathi, P.O. Kurma, Chattok, howeverpermanently residing in Shibong Sylhet since 1975.Md Abdul Malik was educated at MC College Sylhet , Sylhet Poly-technic College and T.T.T.C. Dhaka. Started his career as a Sub-Assist.Engineer at Telephone and Telegraph (T&T) Department, Sylhet.Alongside this he completed the obligatory pharmacist training fromSylhet Medical College and looked after Miltali pharmacy establishedby his father in Shibgonj Bazaar.Arrived in the UK in 1985, briefly settling in Lichfield Staffordshireand later moving to Northampton. Between late 1985 and 1997, hewas actively involved with the Northampton Bangladeshi Communityworking part-time in the capacity of Bangladeshi Community Devel-opment Officer and as a Teacher and organiser/examiner for BanglaLanguage, with full responsibility for GCSE and A’Level courses andexamination. For a period he served as the Secretary of localBangladeshi Masjid in St Georges Street , and Chairman of the SportsSub-committee and assistant secretary of main committee of Al-Jamat Ul Muslimin (the main organisation representing theBangladeshi community in Northampton at that time).Seeking a route away from becoming involved in the licensed restau-rant trade, (prevailing at the time), he completed HND in Engineeringat Nene College, Northampton. Shortly afterwards in partnershipwith extended family purchased an ongoing printing company. Crys-tal Print Services was established in 1994 and became the firstBangladeshi owned printing business in the Midlands.Through involvement with the local masjid and networking throughbusiness links, once again he continues to be an active member ofthe community. Currently he is one of the founder/trustee of Al-Ameen Foundation which has operated an Islamic Primary School inBirmingham for the last six years. Other community involvement in-cludes one of the founder-trustee of Mukti Judda Welfare Trust UK,Chairman of Birmingham Bangladeshi Business Association (BBBA),Bangladeshi Community Awareness Association and Furqan CulturalSociety. One of the Directors of Daily Sylhet Shonglap newspaper,published in Sylhet. His other interests are writing articles of topicalinterest for Bengali newspapers.Md Abdul Malik is married to Shefa Malik who has worked for var-ious local authority run initiatives as Project manager for Bangladeshiwomen primary health and social care projects. Her last positionbeing school head of Al-Ameen Nursery & Primary School from open-ing in September 2004 to 2009, at present involved with the BanglaRoots weekend supplementary school. They have two sons and onedaughter. Eldest son completing final year of dentistry at Birming-ham University, daughter third year in pharmacology at Aston Univer-sity, youngest son in year six.

Dr. KhalifaMohammadAbdul MalikPhD, CChem, MRSC

SECTOR:Academia

MdAbdul Malik(Parvez)

SECTOR:Business & communityrelations



Ajmal Masroor was the Liberal DemocratParliamentary Candidate for Bethnal Greenand Bow constituency in London Borough ofTower Hamlets, during the last general elec-tions.

He is a broadcast journalist specialising onIslam and Muslim issues. He presents regularprogrammes on the Islam Channel andChannel S. He has been a production con-sultant TV programmes such as Shari’ah TV,Make Me a Muslim and the Quran for Chan-nel 4 and Celebrity Lives Shariah style for theBBC. He has written for the Guardian’s com-ment is free and BBC websites, the NewStatesman and the Evening Standard andhas regular page in the EMEL magazine. Hein regularly invited to contribute and com-ment on news stories by BBC, CNN andother mainstream media.

He is a trainer providing training on peaceand reconciliation, citizenship, governance,democracy and contextualised Islam toyoung people across Europe and has takenpart in peace building initiatives in variouscountries including Lebanon and Jordan.He is regularly invited to speak on issues onintegration, Islam in the modern world, Mus-lim community, and topics that relate to so-

cial and political changes within variouscommunities.He is currently the director of Communitiesin Action Enterprises that provides adviceand support to statutory and non-govern-mental organisations including the BritishCouncil, Department of Health, NHS, Policeand local authorities. He has published anumber of guides including ”RamadanHealth Guide”, ”Mark of Faith” and ”Islam-phobia and Anti-Semitism training manual”and ”Organisational Capacity building hand-book”.

He has worked in the voluntary and statu-tory sector for over twenty years in variouspositions and capacities such as a youthworker, community organiser, communitydevelopment advisor and cultural relationsconsultant. He was the vice-chair for theLondon Civic Forum and he lead the cam-paign ”standing together against intoler-ance” post the 9/11 attacks in the USA.

He has studied Politics, Arabic language,counselling and completed an MA in IslamicStudies. He leads Friday prayers in severalMosques across London.

Ajmal Masroor

SECTOR:Politics andMedia

A prominent media person in the UK,MohammadMaruf is the Birmingham cor-respondent of the Weekly Potrika and theeditor of the Weekly Bangla Voice. Born inMay 1971, MohammadMaruf is the fist sonof the late Shaykh Moulana Fazlur Rahmanand Syeda Meherun Nessa. He hails fromNobigong from the district of Hobigonj,Bangladesh and settled in Sylhet.

After studying at the Dorga Madrasha, Syl-het, Bangladesh, he started his own printingbusiness and was the editor of a literaturemagazine. He was also the author of“Shamrajobader Bissayon Abong UmmahChetona” (Ummah consciousness and theglobalization of imperialism) which is a col-lection of essays, joint poetry books “ChuyeDile Badle Jabo” and “Diganto Aj BristiBora”. Along with these, he was also in-volved with literature activities in Sylhet.

After having a successful career as a journal-ist and author in Bangladesh, he came tothe UK in December 2004 and continuedworking in the printing industry. Soon he es-tablished himself as a prominent name inthe printing business among the BritishBangladeshi community.

In 2009 he became the joint publisher andeditor of Weekly Bangla Voice, the only Ben-gali weekly newspaper published in the Mid-lands. This proved to be his greatest success,and has been running well for two years.The newspaper is reputed for its truthful,dedicated and honest unbiased news, andhas gained a huge popularity among theBritish Bangladeshis of Midlands. He contin-ues to work hard not only to carry his ownsuccess, but also to do some good for thebetterment of the community..Mohammad Maruf is married and has adaughter. The family live in Birmingham. MrMaruf is very well known and respected inthe Bangladeshi community in the Midlands.

MohammadMaruf

SECTOR:Media



Mazhar Ali is a popular name in the cater-ing business in East London being a partnerof the Eastern Pride. Catering business hasdominated his life ever since he moved tothe United Kingdom, and his success contin-ued. He was born in 1958 in Chatak,Bangladesh. Mr Ali is one of 6 brothers andsister in his family and from a young age, hewanted to make sure his family and neigh-bours are living well.

Ali came to the United Kingdom in 1980and settled in Oldham and it did not take along before he could become successful inbusiness. With very little educational qualifi-cation, Ali went straight into a kitchen andworked his way up to become a chef to de-velop his culinary and management skills.From the experience gained in this job, Alibecame a head chef and this was a sign forhis future success.

His first business venture was a take away inSomerset named Indiana , opened in 1990.This venture took off successfully and be-came a stepping stone in his business life.Indiana influenced Ali’s next venture - Al-Amin, Dorchester, which led to his next chal-lenge. Ali then established a take away

restaurant - The Raj - in Shoeburyness. Alihad created a recipe for success and his busi-nesses continued to thrive.The Raj had risenfrom the ashes and became popular in thelocality and to this day it is still providing inthe local people of Shoeburyness with qual-ity Bengali cuisine.

Following the success of The Raj, Ali choseto move closer to London. Ali’s Londonbased ventures included, The Spice Tandooriin Plaistow. He has also entered in to prop-erty business and acquired a few propertiesin and around London trading under Ali RajaProperties Limited.

Ali is engaged in many charitable works andhelp his community in many ways. In 1988,Ali helped fund the Jahidpur Madrasa and awhole new bazaar for this village. He ismarried to Husnara Begum, and they havefour children. His eldest son, Farbez Uddinhas recently graduated with a BSc degree inBusiness Economics, while his eldest daugh-ter, Lothifa Aktar is still studying BA in Inter-national Relations. The two youngestchildren Foysal Uddin and Humaira Aktar arestill in their early years of education, inwhom Ali vested his high aspirations.

Ali Mazhar

SECTOR:Catering

AhfazMiah is the managing director of theUKAY Group limited. Having been estab-lished in 1978. UKAY Group has grown tobe one of the most successful businessgroups within the Asian community.Son of Late Mr Alhaj Abul Motin, born in thevillage of Doli Para (Shek Para), Amtoli BazarBiswanath, Sylhet in Bangladesh, Mr AhfazMiah came to the UK in 1970 where he waseducated.Mr Miah qualified as a professional motormechanic and was employed at a garagewhilst finishing off his education. However,in 1978, Mr Miah decided to open a leathergarment manufacturing factory, which im-mediately received a great response fromthe British motorcycle industry.Subsequently, Mr Ahfaz Miah’s partner andfamily decided to expand and open EastLondon’s first Asian food supermarket tocater for the Asian communities needs. TheBangladeshi entrepreneur group thenturned their attention to the clothing indus-try, which led to the formation of the UKAYInternational Saree centre. He has also setup an online retail business:www.ukayshop.com. The pioneering grouplater opened the first Bengali owned 22carat gold jewellery shop ‘UKAY Interna-tional Jewellery.

This was the first in the UK as well as Europeand America. The jewellery shop caters forall types of Indian designs as well as dia-mond and wedding sets. The group havethree branches of the jewellery store:Whitechapel, Green Street and Poplar. Healso has a very impressive property portfolio.Mr Ahfaz Miah is also one of the directorsof United Airways, a new airline set upBangladesh by the British Bangladeshi com-munity. He is also the managing director ofthe Water Lily shopping complex in London.It is the biggest Bengali owned shoppingcomplex in Europe.He is also trustees of Islamic projects such asthe Morkazul Ulum Madrasah in Dalston,London.

Ahfaz Miah

SECTOR:Business



Alhaj Mohammed Rais Miah is successful businessmanand is the current Assistant Secretary of the BirminghamPress Club. In 2008, Mr Miah was recognised for his in-volvement in Business & Community at the BritishBangladeshi League awards ceremony. Born in Bangladesh,Mr Miah arrived in the UK in 1969 aged fourteen.

Mr Miah completed his high school education in the UKand continued on to further education and gained aDiploma in Business and Accounting. Whilst completinghis studies, Mr Miah worked part time as a waiter andgained valuable skills and knowledge of the industry.This helped Mr Miah to open his first establishment in1978 in Brierley Hill called the Rose of Bengal which was aninstant success and consequently opened the TandooriMahal in Stafford. Mr Miah recognised the demand in themarket for Indian Food at the time which later led totwenty two more restaurants in the UK.

During the eighties there was an influx of young unskilledBangladeshis arriving in the UK who only had the option towork a in a factory or restaurant. Mr Miah recognised theirpotential and had the privilege of training many of theseyoung men, some later went on to became business part-ners or buyers. Mr Miah is still involved in the restaurant in-dustry; however, the property industry is also high on hisagenda. In recent years, Mr Miah has also been an activemember of the Bangladeshi community in the midlandsarea helping with the Bangladesh youth organisationwhere he served as Secretary.Through his successful restaurant chain Mr Miah is regu-larly raising money for victims of natural disasters like thePakistan earthquake, Tsunami and the Bangladesh cyclone.He also raises money for other causes such as Chernobyl’sChildren, International Eye Saver and Children in Need.

Mr Miah is also an advisor for the Bangladeshi ProgressiveSociety and is also serving as Treasurer for the Staffordshireand Black Country Guild of Bangladeshi Restaurateurs.Inaddition, Mr Miah is also serving as the current Chairmanof Masjid-E-Usman and in Bangladesh he is the Vice Chair-man of KGDS High School in Balagonj, Sylhet.

Mr Alhaj Mohammed Rais Miah is married and has beenblessed with six sons and three daughters who are all inemployment or full time education.

Ana Miah is an industrious British Bangladeshi whose businessachievements started at the early age of 17. In addition to own-ing the well known and much loved Ruchi Restaurant inWhitechapel, London, he holds Directorships and interests bothhere in the UK as well as abroad with conglomerate ambitions.

Amongst his investment holding, he plays a pivotal role to a num-ber of company’s including; Maritimus, a multinational ship build-ing organisation situated in chor- kishorgonj dhaka occupying 70acre construction enclosure servicing both European interests aswell as the Far-East; Hill View Properties, Estate Development andManagement firm based in Khadim Para Sylhet currently devel-oping 2 acre residential 14 story apartment building with 900cover restaurant , commercial and social enclave; and Venue En-tourage X, an Italianate-Style Banqueting venue and 200 coverrestaurant at the former Leyton Town Hall in London.

Ana Miah born in 1967 in Shiramishi, Jogothanpur, Sylhet holdsin high esteem, his late father Haji Nozir Miah from whom hegained his business accruements and inspiration, and his motherFateha Khanomwho has been his bed-rock even to this day. AnaMiah acknowledges his achievements stemmed from a strongfamily bond .

In addition to being an astute businessman, Ana Miah’s socialcontribution extends to helping a number of charitable organisa-tions. As patron and ambassador his work helps some ofBangladesh’s poorest people including orphan children and des-titute elders, as well as providing employment for 10,000 peopleso they are able to support their families in turn.

AlhajMohammedRais Miah

SECTOR:Catering andProperty

AnaMiah

SECTOR:Business (Shipbuilding)



Alhaj Md, Noor Miah, son of Alhaj Shahid Ullah and AfteraBibi, was born on October 7th 1953 at the village Suratpurunder Usmaninagar Upazilla in Sylhet. He arrived in the UK inmay 1969.

He studied in the local pathshala during his stay in Bangladesh.His father came to the UK in 1957. He is one four brothers andtwo sisters. He came to Walsall and has been living in the samearea since his arrival in this country along with his mother andother two brothers.After coming here he took an english language course in Wal-sall and Birmingham. At first he started to work with ‘RoyalBengal restaurant’ in Walsall where he worked from late 1969to late 1970. Then he started his own business by opening arestaurant ‘Golden Curry House’ at Sparkbrook, Birminghamwhich he ran from mid 1971 to mid 1974. He subsequentlystarted ‘Surma Tandoori Restaurant’ in Walsall with two part-ners early 1975. He opened another business ‘Rose of IndiaRestaurant’ in Stourbridge, west midlands from early 1978-1982. In the mean time his family and himself ran as many asfifteen restaurants in different areas such as ‘Tandoori MoholRestaurant’ in Stafford and others in Aldridge.At present he runs ‘Dilshad Restaurant’ at Oldswinford in Stour-bridge since (Est 1982) and ‘Balti Bazaar Restaurant’ in LyeStourbridge opened 1996, also ‘Stone cross Balti’ in WestBromwich since 2002 and ‘Mirchi Restaurant’ at Quarry Bank

since 2001. He also owns ‘H&J Sarees’ at Walsall since 1993 tillnow. He opened a new business enterprise name ‘Alpha DriveMerry Hill Ltd’ in May 2008 in Stourbridge.He is the Chairman of Walsall Bangadeshi Progressive Societyand has been since 1989.

He is married to Monwara Khanom on January 1, 1978 andthey are blessed with three daughters and two sons. They areHajera khanom, graduated fromWolverhampton University, Jo-hura Khanom graduated fromWalsall college, Fatima Khanomcomplete Alevel, Md, Malik Miah graduated from Derby Univer-sity and Md Ruman Miah studying hifz at KidderminsterMadrassa.

He was the chairman of Bangladesh Youth League in 1983-84and vice chairman of Bangladesh Islamic Association andmosques for two years. He was awarded BBL Award in 2008 asa businessman.

AL-HAJ M. NOORMIAH

SECTOR:Catering and CommunityRelations



MrAnawar BabulMiahwas born in 1972and hails from Holiarpara, JagganathpurThana in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh.He is the son of Alhaj Barik Miah, the Chair-man of Barik Miah Investments UK.

Anawar was called to the Bar by the Hon-ourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn in 1998, andhas since established a reputation both inBritain and Bangladesh as one of the toppractising Barristers of Bangladeshi heritagein the United Kingdom. He practices lawfrom Great James Street Chambers in Lon-don, listed in the Legal 500 directory of‘Who’s Who in the Law’, and this has surelycome about because of his involvement inmany high profile legal cases. His chambershave been involved in notable cases includ-ing acting in cases associated with the Sep-tember 11th attacks in New York and casesinvolving the Enron Corporation of Americascandal. His chambers have also been in-volved in publications such as the leadingauthority on Extradition and Mutual Assis-tance published by Sweet and Maxwell and‘Blackstone’s Guide to the Terrorism Act2006’ published by Oxford University Press.

Anawar also has a direct access licence fromThe General Council of the Bar through

which he advises high net worth individualsand companies directly. Anawar has writtennumerous articles on law and current affairswhich have been published. Aside from hislife in law, Anawar is involved in his familybusiness which owns and operates an ex-tensive network of different companies.

Anawar is married to Sony Sadaf Haroon,who is also a Barrister of the HonourableSociety of Lincoln’s Inn, and the daughter ofHaroon Rashid, the Chairman of HaroonGroup in Dhaka. Anawar and Sony havetwo sons (Mikhaail and Daniyaal) and twodaughters (Saarah and Saasha).Anwar’s wife recently set up her own firm.

Anawar’s pastimes include travelling, read-ing English literature and studying tradi-tional English architecture. He divides histime between his homes in Northampton-shire, Hertfordshire and Dhaka.

Anawar Babul Miah


Arju Miahwas born in Bangladesh but de-cided to move to the UK where he startedstart to work in the restaurant business.He went into this with the intention to pro-vide the finest for all his customers and tohave the most outstanding restaurant.Such devotion and hard work to satisfy cus-tomers and achieve to the best of his ability,has not gone unrecognized, as Mr. ArjuMiah has received many awards throughoutthe years. A few to name are; the BritishCurry Award 2006 and 2007, Master Chefrole of Honour 1999-2000, Silver Awardfrom the Gourmet Wining and DiningGuide 1992 and the British BangladeshBusiness Link Award 2007 for the Best 50Restaurant within the UK.

Mr. Arju Miah further involves himself withmany voluntary jobs; which had led him toreceive the MBE from the Queen in 2003.He was the first Asian President in 80 yearsfor Chippenham and District Chambers ofCommerce and Industry, vice president for 2years and the treasurer for 8 years for theBangladesh Association Swindon, he is alsothe Founder Trustee and treasurer of theHazrat Shajal Mosque in Swindon, he is the

Founder member and Vice Chairman of theJagonnathpur British-Bangla EducationTrust, and furthermore the Board of direc-tors and former UK Chairman for the BFA,also member of the British Bangla Chamberof Commerce BBCC as well as Chairman ofthe greater Dawrai Community AssociationUK and so the list goes on. In addition tothat he is the managing director of theTaj Mahal and the member of Federation ofsmall business (FSB) in North Wiltshire since1984. He is the founder member and theBoard of directors and former Chairman forthe BFA.

He has fundraised for Cancer Research forWessex Children Hospice and many orphan-ages in Bangladesh. He was the Coordina-tor for the SIDR Cyclone Bangladesh Appealand has recently been raising funds for theBangladesh Female Academy; a free schoolfor the girls from the underprivileged areasof Bangladesh, the academy was opened at2006.Mr. Arju Miah is married with five children,and due to their support he is in this posi-tion today.

Arju MiahMBE

SECTOR:Catering



Mr Bambul Miah, born in Bangladesh at thevillage of Aloytaly-Katia, in the district ofSunamganj, came to this country in 1970 agedtwelve, accompanied by mother Mrs KanchonBibi and sister Husena Begum, joining his fa-ther Mr Abdul Moklis who had settled inBritain in 1963. Mr Miah is the eldest of sixbrothers and two sisters. Both grandfathers,Asim Ullah and Isim Ullah, served in the BritishMerchant Navy as serang during the SecondWorld War. Uncle Abdul Sattar served in theBangladeshi Navy.Mr Miah saw that people from Bangladeshseeking employment had to transform them-selves overnight from being farmers into theindustrial workers needed by Britain. Everydaydifficulties were the language barrier and hous-ing needs: both deepened during the 1980s re-cession, when many industries were forced toclose. As his wholehearted passion for commu-nity work grew, he spearheaded the formationof the first ever borough-wide youth organisa-tion, the Bangladeshi Youth League, in 1984.Also through his strenuous efforts, the firstBangladeshi Community Centre ever to be es-tablished was founded in Walsall. Its centralaim was to provide training courses for the ex-panding Bangladeshi catering industry, sup-porting the emerging range of local businesses.In 1985 he became vice-chairman of the na-tional Federation of Bangladeshi Youth Organ-isations UK. In 1986 he was elected general

secretary of the Bangladeshi Youth Movement.In 1997 he along with other community repre-sentatives, youth leaders, and businessmenformed a broad based consortium named theBritish Bangladeshi Council, which became aregistered charity in 1998. Its motto is 'strivingto regenerate and empower the community'.BBC facilities are offered to all, regardless ofethnicity or gender. Mr Miah was also instru-mental in forming the Bangladeshi Consulta-tive Forum, and also pioneered the formationof the first Bangladeshi women’s rights initia-tive (the Bengali Women’s Society) in Walsall.He has continued to serve as either director orboard member on numerous statutory, andnon–statutory bodies.In 2003 he was made an MBE, an honour con-ferred by Her Majesty the Queen, for servicesto the community. In 2005 he was appointed aJustice of the Peace. Other accolades includethe prestigious House of Lords Award, BeaconFellowship Award, Daily Mail Golden Jubilee'Unsung Heroes' Award, and Channel S (Skydigital) National Community Award. In 2009he was the first ever Bangladeshi elected to MyNHS Parliament in Walsall, and is a co-founderof Life Aid Trust.Mr Miah, married to Roushonara Begum, isblessed with eight children; eldest daughterNazneenara Begum is a humanitarian philan-thropist, eldest son Muhammad Miahjee aqualified pharmacist.

Bambul Miah

SECTOR:Business and communityrelations

Muhammed Ayas Miah

SECTOR:Accountancy and business

Muhammed Ayas Miah is one of the veryfew chartered accountants of BritishBangladeshi Community. Apart from beinga very successful CA he is also an eminentcommunity worker and a successful entre-preneur. He is just 34 years old.

In 1993 he came to UK. After completinghis Honours and Masters he completedACCA in 2002 and then ACPA. Later, hestarted his firm ‘AM Accountancy Service’ inBen Jonson Road, East London. This firmdeals with Accounting, auditing, VAT con-sultancy, Taxation, Business Planningetcetera. At present, professionals from dif-ferent ethnicity work in his firm. His clientsare predominantly from Bangladesh, Pak-istan, India, and UK.

He received Channel S Award as one of the50 Community contributors of the new gen-eration and award from Newham WelfareTrust for his contribution and achievement.He is also a very successful businessman. Hehas two ‘cash and carry’s Lalbagh 1 and Lal-bagh 2 at Stepney and Poplar. He owns atake away called ‘Spice’ at Newbury Park.

He actively takes part in community activi-ties. He is the Chair of Ocean Business Asso-ciation, Advisor of Doshghor ProbashiSociety, Member of Greater Sylhet Develop-ment and Welfare Council, founder chair ofSouth Poplar Victim Support Group, GeneralSecretary of Poplar Mother Tounge School.He is trustee of Biswanath Education Trustand Dosh Ghor Progati Trust.

He was a member of Bishwanath ProbashiShongho, UK. He served as the secretary ofEast London BNP and Assistant Secretary ofUK Chatrodol.

He is originally from Dhorarai village ofDoshghor Union, Bishwanath Upozila, Syl-het. His father is Haji Abul Hossain andmother is Piara Begum.

He gotmarried to Nasima Siddiqa in 1998 andnow is a father of two daughters and a son.


Born in Rajnagar upazilla in Moulvibazar Bangladesh, Dr.Moula Miah came to the UK at the age of 16 after finish-ing his secondary school education. In the UK achieved anational diploma in Business Studies. He then in their ownbusiness of manufacturing traditional clothing. Soon, helaunched his first multi-award winning restaurant Rajnagarin 1987 and followed by a successful Group of Restau-rants, as well as residential hotels and land and propertydevelopment business in the UK and abroad.

Since then, he has won and been recommended for manyawards including the Centec Business Enterprise investor inpeople award, Michelin Guide Highly Recommended forthe last 13 years. He has won the British Curry awards2005 and 2006, SFH Award, BOBS 2008 Award and manymore throughout the years. Alongside this, he obtained hisdoctorate in Business Management in 2005.

Dr. Moula has also helped many charities across the UK andBangladesh. He has funded for many institutions and infra-structure building on top of offering scholarships to tal-ented students Dr Moula is also a director of Hotel WhitePearl in Dhaka, the proprietor of the East West Trading Cor-poration and the proprietor of ‘Jonoprotthasha’, a weeklypublished newspaper in Moulvibazar. He has published agrammar book called “A Complete English Grammar”.

Moreover, Dr. Moula is involved with the Bangladeshi com-munity welfare. At the moment, he is the Chairman of Ra-jnagar International Group of Businesses and East WestTrading Corporation UK and Bangladesh, Chairman of DrMoula foundation, founder of Rajnagar degree collegemasjid; Bahadurganj Furkania masjid and madrasa com-plex, a Founder and President of the Guild of BangladeshiRestaurateurs, life member Moulvibazar and LondonBangla Press Club and a Senior Vice-President of theBangladesh Nationalists Party (West Midlands), to name afew. Dr. Moula has donated to several charities.

Son of Alhaj Mohammed Mastafa and Moymona Khatun,Dr Moula is married to Farhana Begum Choudhury and isblessed with two daughters Saleha and Fabiha Sultana andtwo sons Md.Taushifur and Mustafizur Rahman, who arealways very encouraging and supportive.

Faruk Miah MBE was born in Jagonnathpur, Sunamgonj.He is the eldest child of late Hazi Abdul Wahid.

Faruk is currently the Head of Programmes for Business, ICT, Lan-guages, Health & Fitness curriculum for Tower Hamlets LifelongLearning Service (London Borough of Tower Hamlets). He is pas-sionate about learners & learning and the opportunity to makea positive difference to people’s lives.

Prior to joining THLLS in June 2010, Faruk worked in the FurtherEducation sector in Leeds for 20 years. Firstly with the local au-thority in research & community development and then followingthe incorporation of Colleges in 1993, he joined Park Lane Col-lege (now Leeds City College) as an ICT lecturer. From 2001 to2010 he was Head of Centre at various Adult Education Centresacross Leeds. He also played a key role in the development of theCollege’s International Strategy in South Asia and Middle East topromote the College and recruit international students.

Faruk gained his Certificate in Education from the University ofLeeds whilst studying for his B.A. (Hons) in Management at LeedsMetropolitan University.Over the years Faruk has made significant contribution on theBoards of various business, community, faith and cultural organ-isations in Leeds and is now currently a Governor at CaterhamHigh School in the London Borough of Redbridge as well as sup-porting a number of community organisations in London.

He is a keen traveller having been to many parts of Europe, Mid-dle East, South Asia, Africa and USA.

In recent years Faruk has received a number of national and in-ternational awards in recognition of his contribution to the Fur-ther Education sector including the 2006 Channel S CommunityAward for Outstanding Contribution to the British-BangladeshiCommunity, the 2009 Star Award (finalist) for Teaching & Learn-ing. In January 2010 he received an MBE from the Queen forservices to Further Education and the Community in Leeds.

In July 2010 he received an Outstanding Contribution award atthe British Community Honours Awards held at the House ofLords. He has been in the “British-Bangladeshi Who’s Who” theannual publication comprising of the most successful and influen-tial members of the Bangladeshi community in Britain since 2010.

DRMGMOULAMIAHCIP, FRSA, MIH

SECTOR:Business /Community /Media

FarukMiahMBE

SECTOR:Further Education




Jusna BegumMiah is a barrister and practicemanager at M R Solicitors.She was called to the Bar of England andWales by the Honourable Society of Lincoln’sInn in 1998.Jusna comes from the village of Patkura,Mon-doli Bhug, Jagannathpur. Her father is Mr AnisRahman and her mother Mrs Fulesa Khatun.

Mrs Miah completed her primary educationin Bangladesh, before coming to the UKwhere she obtained seven GCSE’s and alsothree A Levels. She then read law at the Uni-versity of Westminster, and after completingher LLB (Hons) she embarked on the Bar Vo-cation Course at BPP Law School. After beingcalled she has worked as a barrister from MR Solicitors.Prior to her legal career, Jusna Begum Miahwas a bilingual health care assistant at theRoyal London Hospital for some eight yearsfrom 1990.She was then elected as a Councillor in May1998, for St Peters Ward, Bethnal Green.This made her the first elected Sylheti femaleCouncillor in Tower Hamlets.

Whist a Councillor Jusna served on numerouspanels, including the education and housingscrutiny panels. She was also amember of the

board of directors for Spitalfields communityTrust and a member of Toynbee housing, toname a few. Mrs Miah is also a patron forTower Hamlets Parent Centre.Jusna is also deeply connected with bothBritish as well as Bangladeshi Politics.Here she is a member of the Labour Party, andhas been a delegate on EC, GMC and LGCand also a student and Youth officer for theBethnal Green and Bow Constituency, shewas also chair of the Whitechapel ward from2002 to 2004. In relation to Bangladeshi pol-itics, Jusna is President of the UK BNP MohilaDal and has represented them in the Housesof Parliament.

Furthermore, she is the Chairperson forBangladesh Female Academy UK Committee,a post she has held since April 2007.

Jusna Begum Miah makes regular appear-ances on the various British Bangladeshi tele-vision channels such as Channel S and BanglaTV, including the talk shows and legal adviceprogrammes.She has also received numerous accolades, in-cluding the Channel S award in 2006 and theLekkhok Somithy UK award in 2002.Jusna BegumMiah is married to MohammedFarid Uddin and they reside in London.

Jusna BegumMiah

SECTOR:Legal

Md Harun Miah comes from the village ofLamachandanpur under Budhbari BazarUnion in Golapgong Upazilla of the SylhetDistrict. His father is Alhaj Moboshir Ali andhis mother Surojan Bibi. Mr Miah came tothe UK in 1972 where he completed hisO’Levels. Md. Harun Miah is married to Mi-nara Begum and they have four children,two sons and two daughters.An eminent business personality and estab-lished Social Worker, Harun Miah has playeda vital role in the field of Social Services. Heis associated closely with many Socio – Cul-tural and Social Welfare Organisations bothinside and outside of the country.

HarunMiah is one of the Trustees of the Lon-don Based Bangladesh Centre, a Member ofthe Bangladesh Welfare Association UK,Trustee of the Golapgonj Education Trust anda member of the British Bangladesh Cham-ber of Commerce (BBCC). He was also thetreasurer of the Golden Jubilee CelebrationCommittee, as well as being a member ofthe British Cheque Cashers Association andUKMTA and is also Chairman of Al-EmdadSchool and College.

Mr Miah owns a number of business under

the Kushiara name which include ‘KushiaraCash & Carry’, Kushiara Financial Servicesworldwide money transfer and bureau dechange and Kushiara Travels Ltd in Commer-cial Road East London. In addition he is alsothe owner of Bangla Frozen Food Ltd, Qual-ity Sea Foods and a newsagent situated inBurslem Street, London. Md HarunMiah hasnot only worked hard in the UK to distin-guish himself but also has worked relentlesslyin his Home country of Bangladesh where hewas one of the individuals who helped es-tablish and build Glolapgonj Lamachandan-pur Jame Masjid and he made a valuablecontribution towards the construction of avillage road in Chandanpur and a bridge inKotlipara – Bashantapur Road in 1998.

He is Director of Shahjalal Islami Bank inBangladesh, and has invested in Dhaka StockExchange. He is also a director of PritomHotel and Holiday Planet in Dhaka, RupaliSea Foods LTD in Khulna in Bangladesh.MrMiah has been a long serving pillar of thecommunity not only as a distinguished SocialWorker but as a successful Business Man set-ting up beneficial organisations in the UKand in Bangladesh and has been dividing histime between both countries.

MdHarunMiah

SECTOR:Business


Mohammed Shofique Miah was born in1954 to a locally reputed family of Khojar Kholain Sylhet City. His father is lateMohammed SoabMiah, grandfather opt reputed Khan BahadurMujammil Ali andmother Ms Nessa Begum. Hehas 5 brothers and 3 sisters.Educated up to secondary level, Mr Miah mi-grated to England in 1977 to set up the familyand to immerse in community politics andworkedceaselessly to promote social welfare, tacklinghomelessness, educational underachievement,racism and community cohesion. Amongnumer-ous initiatives, he played a special role in setting uplocal projects and had encouraged fellowBangladeshis in community involvement.Founder of Mitali Housing Co-operative in1984, now a successful RSL, the Khelaghor Sup-plementary school and first ever community li-brary, set up mother tongue Bengali languageteaching projects in East London between 1982-1990, elected as the first Bangladeshi parentgovernor of Blue Gate Fields Infants and PrimarySchool between 1982-2002 and a long stand-ing parents and community governor at StepneyGreen Secondary School between 1994-2007.Elected as the chair of Tower Hamlets ParentsAssociation since 1987, Shofique Miah carriedout a detailed study of the need for wider in-volvement of the parents to offset educationaldecline in the 80’s. He played a vital role in therecruitment of school governors in Tower Ham-lets, teachers in the community in the wake of

teachers’ exchange programme of BluegateFields and Sylhet Khasdhobir School and laterset up an umbrella group, the collective ofBangladeshi School Governors in Tower Hamletsin 1987. In 1995, Shofique Miah mobilized theBangladeshi community against the decision ofthe Northern Examination Board to reverse theirdecision to drop teaching of the Bengali Lan-guage and succeeded.The Brick Lane Trust under ShofiqueMiah’s lead-ership carried out an ongoing campaign to setup the Shaheed Minar in honour of the Bengalilanguage Myrters of 1952 which culminated inthe first ever language Myrters statue at theAltab Ali park, 1998.ShofiqueMiah played a crucial role to act as thetreasurer and became Chair of the EducationalSub-Committee of Tower Hamlets Race EqualityCouncil 1990-2004. Shofique Miah met withnational dignitaries including Prime MinisterTony Blairwho he met in 2004, received severalmedia awards and the Queen’s Golden JubileeCivic Award, 2002.Mr Miah is a freedom fighter during the year ofBangladesh Liberation in 1971 and organisedpartisans in the Meghaloy and Zaflong areas inIndia and Sylhet. He married Mrs K. HashimChoudhury in 1977 and has two sons and threedaughters; son Azizul is a London metropolitanpolice officer and daughters Reksona graduatedin Middlesex University and Afsana at the Uni-versity of East London.

MohammedSho:queMiah


Mr Delwar Matin is involved in propertydevelopment & multi cuisine restaurant busi-ness and providing consultancy in cateringtrade. He was born in London to Mr AbdulMatin & Mrs Shahena Khanom Matin butoriginally hails from Angura Mahmud Pur,Beani Bazar, Syhlet. He studied in ChestnutGrove School, Clapham, London and South-wark College, Waterloo.Mr Matin was involved with the Enron Eu-rope Ltd from 1998 to 2001 as a 24hr Op-erations Manager. He initially set up andthen managed a 24hr shift team of 15 peo-ple that primarily provided support toEnron’s Energy Traders. He also analysed crit-ical energy trading systems such as NETA,and set up and maintained an off-site Disas-ter Recovery Facility so trading could takeplace in the event of any type of disaster oc-curring at the head office.

For two brief periods Mr Matin served as theDigital Vax Analyst in Paine Webber and An-alyst Progammer in Allders. He was also theSenior Digital Vax Tech Support in CantorFitzgerald where he provided system supportfor 700 users in a leading City of Londonbrokerage firm.

He managed the Digital Vax systems that ranthe companies trading systems and imple-mented the company’s first PC based trad-ing systems which ran OS2 Warp.Mr started his company Hamilton andPalmer Limited in 2006. Then in 2008 an-other business, Kitchin N1 started in 2008and then finally VOC bar in 2011.

Mr Matin is married to Mrs Rajul Matin, andthey have one child, Sahra Matin. In his pas-time, Mr Matin is an avid follower of sports.

Delwar Matin

SECTOR:Business




Rohema Miah is an experienced politicaladvisor having worked over the past tenyears with a number of senior politicians.She has served as a political assistant to MsOona and the Rt. Hon. Harriet Harmen QC.MP as well as other recognised politicians.

Throughout her career, Ms. Miah has cam-paigned for the need for equal opportuni-ties and better community relations andcontinues in her role as BAME Advisor. Shehas demonstrated a commitment to end so-cial exclusion and child poverty in additionto her campaign for sustainable develop-ment. She has visited Bangladesh on nu-merous occasions with senior politiciansand celebrities and has campaignedstrongly on the issue of global warming.

Among many of her achievements, Ms.Miah has helped launch the English forspeakers of other languages (ESOL) Consul-tation for DUIS Minister John Denham MPas well as delivering numerous ExecutivePublic Affairs roles for high profile govern-ment initiatives.Earlier this year Ms Miah organised and co-ordinated the Ethnic Catering Alliance Rallyheld in Trafalgar Square She is also an advi-sor to various Asian and non-Asian organi-sations including the International

Commission of Peace (ICOP) and the Mus-lim Women's Network; part of an initiativeset up by the former Minister for Trade andInvestment, the Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt MP.

She was a Director for the Commission onBritish Muslims and Islamophobia and Jer-maine Jackson’s NGO, Earthcare Interna-tional as well as serving as the Policy andDevelopment Officer for the Centre of Mus-lim Affairs (2006-2007).

Within the last few years, she has also coor-dinated interfaith projects to create a betterunderstanding such as Alif Aleph, an organ-isation promoting dialogue between Mus-lims and Jews. As an Ambassador for peacefor a UN affiliated organisation Ms Miah vis-ited Palestine and the Gaza and has lobbiedcontinuously on the plight of the Palestini-ans and for the removal of the ApartheidWall Ms Miah was an Executive Foundingmember and Press Officer for the Muslimsfor Labour Group (2003-2005) as well as aPolitical Consultant Advisor for the launch-ing of the of UMCOR/Muslim Aid Partner-ship in Parliament.

Her present activities include being a Trusteeat the Henna Foundation and a Political Af-fairs Advisor for MUSIAD UK.

RohemaMiah

SECTOR:Civil Service

Sajjad Miah was born in Rasulpur, Jagan-nathpur Upzila. His father was late HajiEstak Ullah. Sajjad Miah came to the UKwith his father in 1967. He completed hissecondary education in Birmingham andthen moved to Surrey in 1970 to work as awaiter.

During the struggle of independence ofBangladesh, Sajjad Miah participated in al-most all public meetings and demonstra-tions, and played active role as a youthactivist. In 1974, he moved to Brick Lane,where racist attacks were a regular occur-rence that time. To fight against this dis-crimination, Mr. Miah, with the help of thethen general secretary of the BangladeshWelfare Association Ataur Rahman Choud-hury, formed a youth group calledBangladesh Youth Association in 1976. Hewas the founder and treasurer of the organ-ization, and later served as the general sec-retary.

In 1980, Sajjad Miah became a member ofLondon Jamme Masjid Trust which is nowknown as Brick Lane Jamme Masjid Trust.Later in that year, he was elected senior

joint secretary of Bangladesh Welfare Asso-ciation. He was also elected parent gover-nor at Thomas Buxton Infant and JuniorSchool. He later became the chair of TowerHamlets Law Centre.

Mr. Sajjad Miah was elected as councilor forWeaver’s Ward in the London Borough ofTower Hamlets in 1990. In 1992, he be-came the chair of the Bethnal Green Neigh-borhood. He was also a director of theBethnal Green City Challenge, and was oneof the founders of Tower Hamlets ParentsCentre along with Gulam Mortuza.

Mr. Sajjad Miah is currently serving as thevice-president of Brick Lane Jamme MasjidTrust (London) Ltd, chairperson of Collectiveof Bangladeshi School Governors, treasurerof Tower Hamlets Parents Centre, EC mem-ber of Jagannathpur British Bangla Educa-tion Trust, and organizing secretary of theUK Awami League.

SajjadMiah

SECTOR:Community relations


SanamMia Atik is a successful Business Entrepreneur andsocial worker. He was born in Madhob Pur, Kamal Bazar,Sylhet, Son of Mr Sheik Mohammed Irshad Mia and SairaKhanam. Mr Atik came to the UK in 1984. He started hiscatering business at the age of eighteen with two youngerbrothers Mr Habib Mia & Mia Anis Mia, and with his visionand good management he built different businesses andsuccessfully delivered all his projects.

Mr Sanam Mia Atik has started SHA Group along with histwo younger brothers; among many of his ventures areSHA Cash & Carry (whole sale and retail) and he is the firstBangladeshi who has started online grocery shopping andhome delivery service in the UK, SHA Global Money Trans-fer, SHA Travel Services, SHAWorld Wide Cargo Services toname a few. He is also a prominent name in property busi-ness. Some of his ventures in property management in-clude Edwards Estate Agents, City Acquisition PLC, A MaxProperty and SHA Complex in Bangladesh. He is also in-volved with different businesses in the UK as well as inBangladesh which includes Adventures World in Sylhet.

Mr SanamMia Atik is also known for his social work. He isinvolved with Bishwanath Probashi Education Trust, Kha-janchi Union Development Trust UK, Greenwich IslamicCentre, Woolwich Welfare Association, Greenwich BengaliCommunity Association, Tigers Club UK & Bengal Tigers.He is also a member of BCA, BBCC and Greater Sylhet As-sociation.

He has successfully delivered various events in the UK in-cluding Bijoy Mela, Vote for Sundarban Campaign, Banglaand Islamic Education Facilities in the Greenwich IslamicCentre.

Mr Atik was married in 1991. His wife’s name is NoorjahanMia and they have two sons and one daughter.

A friendly and warm person, Mr Atik likes to socialise withfriends and family. In his spare time, he likes to read, traveland gets involved to community work.

Shanur Miah was born on the in February 1964, in the villageof Araihal in Moulavibazar Sador. His father is Haji Md Askir Miah(Akhonji) and mother Faizun Nessa.

He started his primary education in Monurmukh Govt PrimarySchool in Moulavibazar, he passed his SSC examination in 1984from Monurmukh High School. Also as part of his early studentlife he attended in Sylhet Cadet College, to gain admission therehe had to complete class four and five in a year, he did not studythere for long, he studied there for one and a half years and thenreturned back to Monurmukh High School and finished his highschool education there. After high school study, he was admittedto Habibullah Bahar College in Dhaka in 1984, he could not fin-ish his studies there because his father had been living in the UKsince the second world war till now and wanted him and the restof his family to join him.

He then came to the UK in 1988, he took a two year course inBTEC Electronics in Brixton College in London. Later on he startedwork in an off licence shop and worked there for two years. Hedid not feel happy working there, he felt as though he wantedto do something more with his life. So one day he came to BrickLane to visit a friend’s shop, which was Sangeeta Music shop, heliked everything about the shop because it provided books, mag-azines, newspapers and music from Bangladesh. After visitingthe shop he felt that this was his future to provide for theBangladeshi Community in the UK.

He dedicated himself in Sangeeta for seven years from 1991 to1998, the owner invited him to be a partner of Sangeeta whichhe happily accepted.Now Shanur Miah is a successful and proud owner of Sangeeta.He resides with his wife Shahanara Akther and three children.

SanamMia Atik

SECTOR:Business

Shanur Miah

SECTOR:Retail



Celebrity Chef TommyMiah is one of theleading Bangladeshi businessmen in theUnited Kingdom where he owns theaward-winning Raj Restaurant in Edin-burgh, and has substantial property inter-ests.Edinburgh is also the home of his uniquelyinspired Original Raj Hotel Group of individ-ually styled Indian-themed boutique hotels.Without any formal training, qualifications,or background knowledge Tommy was at-tracted to catering trade in the UK. Whenhe was 17 he had started his own smalltakeaway.

He then moved to Edinburgh where afterbeing involved with a couple of well-re-garded restaurants, he raised enough cashto buy a near derelict cinema, which wastransformed to the Raj Restaurant. It at-tracts a discerning clientele --writers, busi-nessmen, sportsmen, politicians and publicservants --and provided a firm foundationfor business development.Tommy is the founder and promoter of theInternational Indian Chef of the Year Com-petition: the most prestigious event in theIndian culinary calendar.He has diverse business interests in

Bangladesh and commitments including hissignature restaurant The Heritage. He hasregular cookery programmes onBangladeshi TV and an increasing interestin projects, ranging from clothing and tex-tiles to food manufacturing.

His reputation as a media celebrity and TVchef, coupled with wide experience of in-ternational dining and catering, led to thefoundation of the City & Guilds approvedTommy Miah Institute of Hospitality Man-agement in Dhaka to train youngBangladeshis and equip them to succeed inthe international hospitality industry.Zee TV screened a full-length documentaryon Tommy’s career, which was also featuredby BBC2's Working Lunch business pro-gramme in the UK. Tommy made it to theGuinness Book of Record by cooking, sin-gle-handed, the world’s largest curry --which was then sold portion by portion tovisitors at a large exhibition.He is now working to expand his OriginalRaj Hotel Group chain of boutique hotelsand launched a London hotel in 2009.His work for charities, both in Bangladeshand the UK, includes Cancer Research UK,Shishu Polli (Sreepur Village), Centre for theRehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), andORBIS Flying Eye Hospital. He has also beenauctioned for several thousand pounds atime at big Charity Balls, with an offer tocook for up to 100 diners anywhere in theworld. He has written five recipe books forUK charities.

TommyMiah

SECTOR:Catering and Hospitality

Yousuf Miah is a planner by professionand a partner in Hamptons CRD planningand regeneration consultancy based inthe West Midlands. He is currently study-ing for his RICS and soon to qualify as aChartered Surveyor.

Politics and progress in public life hasdominated much of his focus in the pastdecade. Yousuf joined the ConservativeParty in 1998 and served as Chairmanbetween 2003-07. He was elected toNorthampton Borough Council in 2003and served as a Cabinet Member forHousing & Regeneration. He is an ap-proved Parliamentary candidate and un-successfully fought the 2005 GeneralElection. In 2006, he was recognised asone of the ‘Top 20 Councillors’ in thecountry.

Born in the village of Moyeen Pur,Chaatak Thana, Yousuf is one of six chil-dren of the late Alhaj Sazzad Miah. Aftergraduating with Honours in politics andpolicy from Leicester, he worked as a re-searcher in parliament followed by stintsas a corporate hospitality manager, de-velopment and corporate fundraising. Heco-founded a training consultancy in2004 which later merged with 2 others

to create Hamptons CRD in 2010. Healso founded FinePublications in 2008which was later sold but he retains an in-terest in the company.

In 2005, he undertook a MBA in Market-ing from Durham and studied leadership

at Christ Church College Oxford Univer-sity in 2006.Yousuf’s involvement in the communityis exemplary. He served as a member ofthe Northamptonshire Police Authorityfor over 5 years and governorship of twoschools in addition to voluntary posts forMIND (mental health charity) and Dia-betes UK.

He was one of the founding members ofthe Northamptonshire Faith Forum andChairman of the Northamptonshire Mus-lim Council. His commitment to theNorthampton’s Bangladeshi communityis unprecedented. He raised in excess of£1 million to build the award winningGateway Centre in 2004.

Yousuf is a keen sportsman and writerand has kept a diary since he became in-volved in politics. He is a member of theRoyal Society for Asian Affairs and an Ex-ecutive Member of the Northampton-shire Cricket Club.

He is married to Nazia, a policy advisorand they have a 3-year old daughterAmina and share their time betweenLondon, Northampton and Birmingham.

Yousuf Miah

SECTOR:Politics, Management andCommunity Relations



Currently one of the top ten chefs in theUK, Mr. Mohammed Mohed Ali (Mitu)has also been the founder president of UKAwami League Sheffield City Branch since2004. From January 29, 2011, he has be-come the National Executive Member of theUK Awami League. A prominent restaura-teur, he is also the vice chairman of ProbashiBalagonj Osmani Nogor Adesha UpozillaSommittee and the president of Kuwait-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry.

Mr. MohammedMohed Ali (Mitu) was bornin Sheffield to Mr. Montaz Ali and Mrs Ja-rina Bibi, but his family originally hails fromOsmani Nogor, Sylhet. He opened his firstrestaurant in 1990. Since then he has in-vested in catering industry, properties andcash and carry hotels both in the UK andabroad.

He is the owner of British BangladeshiAhnam Asset Ltd. and a director of DhakaRegency Five Star Hotel and Resort.A member of the British Bangladeshi Cham-ber of Commerce, Mr. Ali is the president ofDevelopment Council for Bangladesh in UK,Sheffield City Branch and joint convenor ofProbashi Kallyan Bank Ltd.

He has also donated heavily to charity, andhelped build an Academic Babbon andGoala Bazar High School. He donated 15lacs Taka in his local Osmani Nogor BalagonjUpozilla to help the victims of the 2004Bangladesh flood.

Mr. Ali has also contributed to build a gatefor the No.1 Lamakazi Union Office inBiswanath Upozilla.

Mr. Ali is presently the executive director ofAporupa Housing Development and ashareholder of International Metal Industry(IMI), which was originally founded by hisfather. He is the director of Eastern FoodsYorkshire Ltd. Cash and Carry in Sheffieldand currently the owner of Saffron IndianTake Away.

Mr. Mohammed Mohed Ali (Mitu) is mar-ried to Mrs Rabiya Begum. They have twosons and two daughters who are RushnaBegum Ali, Mohammed Ibrahim Ali,Fathima Begum Ali and MohammedAhnam Ali. The family reside in Sheffield.

MohammedMohedAli (Mitu)

SECTOR:Business andcommunity relations

Mr. Jamal UddinMokkodus is well knownin the Britain Bangladeshi community for hisbusiness reputation and social service. Bornin Mondolpur village of greater Sylhet, Mr.Jamal Uddin came to UK in 1973 after com-pleting his school. He started his career inthe catering industry, and after some daysbegan his own restaurant business.

He started a number of restaurants. His rep-utation spread all over Britain. Significantamong his restaurants are Bilas Tanduri,Palash, Titas Raj, Garden of India, BhojonRestaurant. The Bhojon restaurant achieveda very good reputation.

Mr. Jamal Uddin has other businesses, too,including like property business. He is a di-rector of the Homeland Insurance Company,a chief insurance sector of Bangladesh. He isalso the UK based finance director ofBangladesh Chamber of Commerce, the di-rector of the Garden of India (Harlow), sen-ior patron of Raj (Epping), the chairman ofthe Essex Bangladeshi Caterers Association,and the founder of Executive Bhojon andthe Jamal Uddin High School.

Mr. Jamal Uddin has been tirelessly servingfor the development of his community. As a

memer of the Conservative Party, he hasclose ties with Bangladeshi politics. Zia urRahman being his idol, he is also a memberof the UK branch of the Bangladesh Nation-alist Party.

Mr. Jamal Uddin has immense contributionin establishing the non resident Bangladeshicell in Sylhet. In 1979 he married RokeyaUddin, the daughter of the celebrated peerTahir Ali of Hazari gaon. He fathered threechildren, all of them holding University de-grees. At present Mr. Jamal Uddin lives withhis family in Hounslow.

Jamal UddinMokkodus

SECTOR:Catering



HasinaMomtaz’s current role is as a commu-nications brain behind the Mayor of London,Boris Johnson.As such, she has chosen to challenge herselfin the toughest environment.

Her journey to this point tells the story of a girlwho came to London from the village ofBeanibazaar, in Bangladesh, at the age of six.Because of her inability to speak English, shestruggled to adjust to life in a very differentculture and environment.From these humble beginnings she went onto study at the prestigious London School ofEconomics and Political Science (LSE), notedfor its illustrious alumni which includes Headsof State, Nobel Laureates, Historians, Philoso-phers, Economists and Academics.She graduated with a BSc. Honours degree inInternational Relations, Law and Sociology.

Having advised two high profile Mayors’ ofLondon – both of whom are instantly recog-nisable by their first names only; the previousincumbent, Ken Livingstone, as well as thecurrent Mayor - Hasina has worked on someof the biggest national and internationalbreaking news stories of recent times such asthe London bombings, the IPCC investigationinto the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezesand the changeover of administration follow-ing the London Mayoral elections in 2008.

Working in the press office of a strategic, pan-London organisation with a budget of £11bnwhere the elected executive has the mandateof over 7.5 million Londoners, has givenHasina an intimate understanding of operat-ing in complex political environments, the de-mands of highly pressured news organisationsand handling high profile and sensitive mediaissues. It has also provided her with an oppor-tunity to input into the activities of a dynamic,prestigious and forward thinking organisationwhich makes decisions that impact on thedaily lives of millions of Londoners.During her time at the Greater London Au-thority (GLA), Hasina has devised and exe-cuted wide-ranging and targeted mediastrategies, advised on interview bids for theMayor, high profile policing and crime issues,sensitive community engagement issues aswell as regularly briefing the Mayor himselfand his top team.In 2007, Hasina studied for a coveted industryqualification, the Chartered Institute of PublicRelations Diploma (CIPR). The diploma hashelped Hasina to apply a greater strategic andcritical perspective to her work as well as in-creasing her understanding of operational/lo-gistical planning issues surroundingcommunications activities. It has also helpedher to build on her wide-ranging expertise andin-depth knowledge of national, regional,local, BME, specialist and trade media.

HasinaMomtaz

SECTOR:Communications/media

RowshanaraMoniwas born in theMoulvibazardistrict town in Bangladesh. She is the sixth childof LateMohammed Samroowhowas a very wellknown business man in the UK, and Syeda SufiaKanum, her mother whowas actively involved inpolitics in Bangladesh.RowshanaraMoni has completed her primary ed-ucation in Bangladesh and came to the UK in1984 when she was only 10 years old. She com-pleted her education in the UK.She has been singing since the age of six. Musicis her passion and she can live for it. After comingto UK she joined Dishari Shilpi Gushti and per-formed in many stage programmes. When shewas only 11 she performed in the Royal AlbertHall for the “Save the Children Foundation” andshe was singing in front of the honourable guestPrincess Anne.In 1985 she took part in the Bengali SongContestwhichwas organised by Tower Hamlets Borough,and won 1st prize in Folk song. In 1986 she won2ndprize in folk song andmodern song and 1987and 1988 she haswon 2nd prize inmodern songand folk song. She has received many otherawards and certificates from different organisa-tions. Apart from singing she took great interest inacting. The first stage drama she took part is in“Khotto Bikkhoto” in Camden and she also took

part inmany other stage dramas. She acted in thefirst Bangla TV (UK) drama,whichwas called “LaalGolap” written by Abdul Gaffer Chowdhury.RowshanaraMoni regularly took part in radio dra-mas in the “Sunrise Radio” Bengali departmentwith Azizul Hakim. She became well known tothe Bangladeshi community as a result. Shewas apresenter for “Sunrise Radio” in the Bengali de-partment.At the age of 18 she gotmarried in Bangladesh toMrMohammed Iqbal whowas a Civil Engineer attheWater Development Board in Bangladesh. Shehas one child who is called Aynan Shabab Iqbal.Rowshanara Moni sang in all leading channels inthe UK and from time to time she goes to Europeto perform.In July 2009 she organised a fund raising eventfor the late baul shamraat Shah Abdul Karim andraised £10000 for his rehabilitation. In 2010 shehas again organised a thanks giving award tothose who helped raise £10000 for baul sham-raat Shah Abdul Karim in 2009.She is involved in charity work too. In addition,she has great interest in politics both in the UKand Bangladesh. She is the current Women Af-fairs Secretary for the Bangladesh NationalistParty in UK. At present she is working full time inNHS as a medical administrator.

RowshanaraMoni

SECTOR:Arts



Former Councillor and former Mayor Ghulam Mortuza ismore commonly known for being the first Bangladeshi Mayorof Tower Hamlets. He was born in the village of Narikeltola ofJaggannathpur Thana under Sunamgonj district and attendedthe Mangalchandi Nishikanta High School and then went toJaggannathpur High School. Mr Mortuza passed his SSCexams and came over to the UK in 1965. He initially com-pleted an English language course; and then studied for B.Edat Averyhill College and also obtained an MA in Politics andGovernment studies from Guildhall University.In 1975 he started up his own business named AM Fashionin East London. He later helped establish East CommunitySchool and got himself involved in actively promoting educa-tion to the Bangladeshi community. Mr Mortuza formed theParents-Teachers Association at Canon Burnet which con-sisted of parents and teachers.He supported the establishment of Jalabad Bangladeshi Par-ents Association in Tower Hamlets of which he became thefounding secretary.Actively involved in addressing housing issues he establishedTenant Association in the area of Spitalfields in East London;furthermore he played a vital role in the anti-racism move-ment through Tower Hamlets Law Centre and Tower HamletsAssociation for Racial Equality. Moreover Ghulam Mortuzalaunched a movement demanding the recruitment of Bilin-gual Teachers in Tower Hamlets schools and colleges, and asa result more and more bilingual teachers are being recruitedinto the teaching workforces. He also became the chairmanof Bangladeshi Education and Career Services (BECS).He has been involved in mainstream politics for a very longtime, and first started off being a member of the Labourparty in the Spitalsfield ward, he was also chairman ofthe Labour party in the Spitalfields ward.

Ghulam Mortuza has been involved in many socio-welfareactivities. In Bangladesh he founded the Gulbahar GirlsSchool in his own area and named it after his mother. He as-sisted in the completion and development of roads includingJaggannathpur College road and Jagannathpur –Shibgonj-Fechirbazar road. In 1996 he founded Tower Hamlets ParentsCentre. In the following year he was nominated director andtrustee of Spitalfields Market Trust. He was an executivemember of Tower Hamlets Law Centre, member of St HildsCommunity Centre and Oxford House, Kobi Nazrul Schooland Bangladesh Welfare Association.Ghulam Mortuza is married to Aleya Mortuza and they areblessed with five daughters and one son.

Hafiz AbdullahMuhammad is a Teacher, Lawyer and Author andthe eldest son of Haji Mohammad GulamMustafa. He was born in1971 in Haboshpur (Balagonj, Sylhet) in Bangladesh and came toLondon in 1979. Through his dedication and hard work he has suc-ceeded in education and for more than two decades, he has pio-neered numerous projects in benefiting the community.

He was the President of the Islamic Society at Kingsway College(1989), Queen Mary University (1993) and Institute of Education(1994). He successfully launched the Bangladesh Cyclone Appeal(1991), went on a Relief Convoy to Slovenia (1993) and SummerSupplementary School (1994).He was also a Vice-Chair of Governors, Independent Custody Vis-itor, Community Mediator, Imam and actively involved in Inter-faithwork. For his voluntary work, he was given Certificate of Recogni-tion as a Volunteer by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets (1997) andshortlisted for BT Child Line Awards for Services to Children (1997).

He studied in an Islamic School, memorized the Qur’an at 19, ob-tained a Distinction in MA Islamic Studies from SOAS (1999) and re-cently completed an intensive post-graduate course for scholars atAl-Azhar University. He won 1st prize in two national Essay Com-petitions on Islam (1987 & 1995) and was shortlisted for the Mus-lim News Award for Excellence in Creativity in Islamic Thought(2000). He has published over a dozen articles and is the author of“The Best of Times in Islam” (IPCI, 2002).After graduating in Law (LLB Hons) in 1994, he qualified as a Reli-gious Education Teacher and taught at Stepney Green School(1997, 2000). He later taught Literacy & Numeracy to children insupplementary schools and Modern Arabic & Spoken Sylheti toadults at Lifelong Learning Centres. After qualifying as a Solicitorin 2003, he specialised in Housing and Employment Law and hasbeen working in private practice and several Law Centres and LocalAuthorities.Hafiz Abdullah runs the Quran Study Group through which he or-ganises weekly Qur’an classes for whole family in Goodmayes,monthly seminars at Canary Wharf and annual ‘Journey Throughthe Quran’ Course in Ramadan at Birkbeck College since 2008. Heregularly gives lectures and contributes articles on Islam and theQur’an at various establishments and publications. He is married toSultana Ahmed and they have three beautiful children (Maryam,Aasiyah & Ibrahim).

GhulamMortuza

SECTOR:Politics

Ha:z AbdullahMuhammad

SECTOR:Academia



Shuyeb Muquit is the son of the late Mo-hammed Abdul Muquit, who’s family origi-nate from the Sunamgonj District ofBangladesh. Shuyeb’s father was headmas-ter of the Digalbakh High School prior to ar-riving in the UK in the mid Sixties, where hequalified as an accountant, working initiallyfor Habib Bank and then the Inland Revenuebefore embarking upon private practice inBirmingham, where Shuyeb was born andraised. Shuyeb’s mother, Ayesha Muquit,originates from Kulaora, and is the sister ofBadrul Alam, the former General Managerof Biman Airlines.

Shuyeb completed his secondary educationat King Edward Grammar School beforemoving to London as an undergraduate ofthe London School of Economics, where hestudied social and economic history (andwhere he was President of the Bengali Soci-ety). He then completed his Diploma in Lawat the University of Birmingham, returningto London to complete his Bar VocationalCourse, after which he was called to the Barof England andWales in 1998. Shuyeb com-pleted his pupillage under the guidance ofJames Gillespie [lately known as the co-au-thor of the Immigration Law Handbook] be-fore joining 12 Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn, as

a Tenant in 2000.Shuyeb is now a barrister specialising in Pub-lic and Administrative Law and has overtwenty reported cases to his credit in thisfield, representing clients up to the Court ofAppeal. Asked to comment upon Shuyeb’sproposed entry in this year’s Who’s Who,Manjit Gill QC wrote: 'I found Shuyeb to bea brave, imaginative and intelligent advocatewhose extreme enthusiasm for the law ismatched by his unrelenting concern for theinterests of his client. Certainly a practitionerto watch out for…'. To the same enquiry IanMacdonald QC wrote "I have recently ledShuyeb in a test case immigration appeal. Iwas impressed by his knowledge of immi-gration law and by his industry and hardwork. I have no doubt he will go far".Shuyeb recently moved to 1 Mile CourtBuilding, The Chambers of Lord Gifford, QC.Shuyeb is married to Pahmida who is a phar-macist by profession; and daughter of AbuBashir, a leading social campaigner and com-mentator and former head of policy at Brad-ford Council.

Outside his professional practice, Shuyeb isinvolved in various charitable ventures, notleast those concerned with protecting therights of vulnerable individuals and groups.

ShuyebMuquit


Mr Nur-ur Rahman Khandaker Pasha,better known as Pasha Khandaker, is the cur-rent secretary general of the BangladeshCaterers Association.Mr Pasha is the chair-man of Reliance West Malling Limited andPrincipal partner of Ghandi Tandoori restau-rant, in West Malling, Kent and Gandhi Tan-doori at Rye in east Sussex. Both of themhave been established businesses for the last25 years. His third venture in the restaurantsector is Curry Lounge at Romney, Kent, andis being regarded as one of the best Indianrestaurants in Kent.

Pasha Khandaker was born in Sylhet in 1958.He received his school, college and Universityeducation in Bangladesh and obtained adiploma in leadership management in theUK after which he pursues a career in therestaurant business. Throughout his aca-demic life he was heavily involved in variousextra curricular activities such as student pol-itics, setting voluntary organizations.Mr Khandaker served continuously on theprevious national executive committees ofBCA and became the Senior Vice Presidentin 2003.

Mr Pasha has been a featured participant invarious industry forums. He has served on a

number of non-profit organizations, includ-ing the Kent police as a social trainer andwas active as Senior Executive of Kent Mus-lim forum. He also worked as a coordinatorfor South East Human Rights. He is a labourparty activist and worked as the CLP secre-tary of his party.

Throughout his career in the curry industry,he has continually established connectionswith many high profile policy makersthrough his participation in the Chamber ofCommerce, local council and police and sev-eral informal business groups.Currently he is working relentlessly to raisethe standard of curry industry as well asthose who are related with this creative in-dustry.Mr Pasha is married to Mrs Dipika Pasha andthe couple are blessed with two children, aboy and a girl. They reside in Kent and areactively engaged in the various social welfareactivities in their neighbourhood.

In personal life Mr Pasha is very cordial andamiable, He is always engaged to serve thedistressed people. He has a wide range of in-terests including reading, gardening, travel-ling and updating himself with the latestworld affairs.

Nur-ur RahmanKhandaker Pasha

SECTOR:Catering



Syed Nahas Pasha is one of the best know-nand most respected Bengali journalist inBritain. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Janomot andCurry Life Magazine.Syed Nahas Pasha was born in Sylhet,Bangladesh in 1957. He was the second son ofa family of three boys and a girl. One of hisbrothers Syed Jaglul Pasha is a high ranking civilservant in Bangladesh and another, brotherSyed Belal Ahmed, is also a successful journalistand publisher.He came to Britain in 1976 to join his father. Hejoined the famous Sonali Bank. After severalyears in the Bank, he moved to start his owncatering business. From a very early age Pasha,a born idealist, was attracted to journalism. Atschool he was one of the top performers in theBengali language and literature. His longstand-ing love affair with the profession of journalismbegan at school. He edited school magazinesand during the eighties he edited a literarymagazine ‘EESHAN’. To this day he remains aregular contributor to some prominentBangladeshi daily Newspapers.

He was involved in full time employment withthe newspaper Notun Din for ten years and as-sisted in the establishment of Asian Post, anEnglish Language newspaper. He later joinedPotrika. After improving the status of this news-paper his friends at Janomot, Nobab Uddin andAmirul Choudhury invited him to join them as

partner and Editor in Chief, a position he holdsto this day.In 2003 Mr Pasha and his brother Syed BelalAhmed published the first edition of Curry LifeMagazine. Syed Pasha has been frequently in-vited by TV, radio and press media to commenton the latest developments.In 1993 Syed Pasha along with his journalistfriends realising that Bangladeshi journalists andpublishers in Britain were without a platformhelped to find the London Bangla Press Club toadvance their interests. Pasha is a member ofthe National Union of Journalists (NUJ). He isalso a member of the Commonwealth Journal-ists Association (CJA).He has worked closely with the Home Officeand the Foreign Office, And has traveled withGovernment ministers and officials to France,Germany and Bangladesh.In 2007 he was the only journalist invited fromthe ethnic media to accompany the Home Of-fice and Foreign Office Ministers on a trip toFrance for discussions between Britain andFrance on cooperation on immigration.Respected journalist Syed Pasha has travelled tomany countries, attended many conferencesand met individuals such as Nelson Mandela,Tony Blair and Mahathir Mohamed.

Syed Nahas Pasha has two daughters and a sondespite his demanding and overcrowded sched-ule always finds time to spend with the family.

Syed Nahas Pasha

SECTOR:Media

Mr. Robin Paul is a well established and re-spected figure in the Bengali community.Robin is a man of honesty, self belief, in-tegrity and a man of great vision. Robin hailsfrom Tajpur of Sylhet. His father the lateRanadhir Paul was the reputed headmasterof Sharpur Azad Bokht High School. Hismother Shikha Rani Paul was a teacher byprofession.

Robin came to London in 1994 while he wasstudying B.Sc at the Sylhet MC College. Hegot involved in business in 2002 and sincethen has enjoyed continuous success as theowner of General Auto, one the most suc-cessful and recognised accident manage-ment companies in the community.

Robin was a footballer and a member of theTajpur Taj Club and Balagonj Abahani Foot-ball Club. He is also member of the BalagonjSaimati and trustee he is also a secretary ofBalagonj Education Trust uk. Robin is at pres-ent the vice chairman of the BangladeshHindu Association, General Secretary ofSanatan Association and a member of theadvisory committee of the organizationAmra Tajpur Bashie.He is a donor member of the KashiparaShiva Temple, Biswanath Seva Ashram, Luk-

nath Temple, Shrimongol, Kadipur Shiv Bari(Khullara) amongst others. He is also a donormember of Mangalchandi Nishikanta HighSchool, founder member of Balagonj Col-lege and life member of Goulabazar PublicLibrary. He is also a life member of BalaganjPress Club. A secular man, Robin is also oneof the donor members of Mogbelpur Osma-nia Madrasah, Mullapara Dakhil Madrasahand other Islamic learning institutions. Robinwas the General Secretary of the electioncommission of the Balaganj Usmani NagarEducation Trust.

Robin is married to Shilpi and they areblessed with three children.

Rabin Paul

SECTOR:Business



Abdul Quadir, an accountant by profession, was born inBangladesh, the youngest of 6 children. His father was aschool teacher. After graduating from Dhaka University hetaught in a secondary school in Bangladesh. In 1971 whilestudying for his Accountancy qualification in the UK, he washeavily involved in the liberation movement of Bangladesh.

He has lived in Camden since 1966. His first residence wasin Bloomsbury. He now lives in Primrose Hill.Abdul is married with three children and they all went tolocal state schools and graduated from renowned Universi-ties. His wife Sophie is a lecturer at a local college.

Abdul worked for a number of accountancy firms in Londonincluding Camden. Alongside his professional career Abdulhas been actively involved in the challenging areas of edu-cation and community affairs. He was instrumental in set-ting up numerous national and local voluntary organisationsand served as chairs and management committee memberson many of them. He has extensive experience of being in-volved in various forums raising achievement of Bangladeshichildren and young people and was founder Chair of TheBengali Education Centre, established in 1985

Abdul first served as a Camden Councillor from 2002-2006when he served for two years as a member of the Overviewand Scrutiny Commission and was Deputy Mayor in 2005/6.He also served on many Scrutiny Panels. Abdul was Vice-Chair of Pension Sub-Committee, Vice-Chair Licensing Com-mittee and a member of the Standing Advisory Council onReligious Education (SACRE).He was re-elected to Bloomsbury Ward in the 2010 localelections. During the last year he served on the Audit andCorporate Governance Committee and the Audit and Cor-porate Governance Performance Review and Staff AppealsSub Committees; CSF Scrutiny Committee, Holborn DistrictManagement Committee, and was Vice-Chair of LicensingCommittee. He is a Director/Trustee of the Working Men’sCollege, Director of Castlehaven Community Association,Director of Camden Central Mosque and Community Cen-tre (CCMCC) and Vice Chair of SACRE.

He is a Member of the Halal Food Group and has beenworking for years introducing Halal food in Camden schoolsand formalised this position with the Council in 2006.

Murad Qureshi is the member of London Assembly as a LabourParty, Assembly Member (AM) representing the whole of Lon-don. He was first elected in 2004 and then re-elected in 2008. Heis currently the chair of the Environment Committee and LondonWaterways Commission. He is also the member of the Budgetand Performance Committee, Standards Committee, TransportCommittee, London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority andHeathrow Airport Consultative Committee.

Murad’s father’s name is Mushtaq Qureshi and mother’s name isKhalida Qureshi. Murad’s family originally hail from Sheikhpara,Sylhet Town though he grew up in North West and Central Lon-don where he attended his local comprehensive school beforereceiving a B.A(Hons) degree from the University of East Angliaand an MSc in Environmental Economics from University CollegeLondon.

Murad worked in Housing and Regeneration for 15 years estab-lishing Housing Association Co-ops in the East End in response tochronic housing needs. He was also an executive committeemember of SERA (1994-2000) campaigning on green issues anda former member of the City of Westminster Council (1998-2006) representing the neighbourhoods he grew up in.

Murad is a board member of BRAC UK, an international NGOthat seeks to alleviate poverty and empower the poor in the UKand abroad.

As a member of the Assembly, Murad’s key issues and concernsfeature environmental ones like improvement of Londoner’s qual-ity of life; reducing our carbon footprint; reviving London’s riversand canals; giving all Londoners a decent standard of accommo-dation and maximizing the contribution of sports to the culturaland civic life of London. As an avid sportsman Murad enjoyscricket and football and continues to play for local teams inMarylebone & Paddington. He has campaigned for more openspaces and playing fields in London and looks forward to Londonhosting the 2012 Olympic.

CouncillorAbdul QuadirMayor of Camden2011-2012

SECTOR:Politics

Murad Qureshi

SECTOR:Politics



Alaur Rahman came to the UK fromBangladesh in 1977 with his parents at theage of fourteen.

When arriving in the UKMr Rahman enteredinto the music industry as he was already akeen musician in his native country ofBangladesh he followed what he was mostpassionate about in Britain. His musical in-spiration is Mr Nurul Ghani, who has guidedhim to where he is today.

In Bangladesh Mr Alaur Rahman attendedMadrasa and primary school and he use tosing music and songs there. In 1985 inBritain Mr Rahman appeared on BBC televi-sion singing folk songs. Already in a musicgroup Mr Rahman and his group recordedthere first cassette in 1985 and carried onrecording on to CD. Mr Rahman was a stu-dent at Pandit Horidas Ganguly School werehe was taught music by Golam Ali anothergreat singer and musician. In 1985 Mr Rah-man got asked by numerous people to ap-pear on BBC1 to sing music live.

He has performed on Bangladesh TV (BTV)and has won numerous awards globally.These have included awards from Z TV,

Channel I, ATN, Bangla TV and Channel Swhere he has won awards for being the bestsinger.Mr Rahman became one of the leadingsingers in Britain’s Bengali community and inthe 1990’s went on to sell numerous songsand travel around the world to promote hismusic. Mr Rahman has been selected byEkushe TV to be the voice of the Azan (Callto prayer).

Mr Rahman moved onto making music,which was of a spiritual and religious na-ture. Currently Alaur Rahman is one of themost talented music directors and perform-ers of British Bangladeshi origin.He has released thirty six albums which in-cluded recording Hindi and Bangla songsand at present he has four albums in thepipeline awaiting release.

Mr Alaur Rahman married Mrs Rozi Rahmanin 1986. They have two sons and a daugh-ter, who are: Aniqa, Rabi and Raid.

Alaur Rahman

SECTOR:Arts (Singer)

Nijam M Rahman is a RenownedBangladeshi born Businessman and Commu-nity Leader. He is the Chief Executive andfounder of Neer Telecom, the only telephoneand internet service provider in the UKowned by a Bangladeshi.

Mr Rahman was born on September 14,1974 in Bahar Mordan, Moulvi Bazar,Bangladesh. His father is Late Atikur Rahman(Akah Miah) and mother is Rahimun NessaBegum. He did his HND in engineering.

Mr Rahman holds many important positionsas a dignitary. He is the president andfounder of Bangladesh Overseas Social Soci-ety (BOSS) and Executive committee memberof Hounslow Chamber of Commerce. He isalso the Vice-President of Jatiyabadi Sanskri-tik Sanghstha (JASAS) [A National CulturalOrganization in Bangladesh], UK CentralChapter, and President of JASAS in the Mid-dlesex region. He is the founding member ofQueens Park Bangladesh Association, UKand producer of Spice of Life, Venus TV, SKY805. Mr Rahman is also a former school gov-ernor. Mr Rahman once owned the reputedHeathrow Tandoori Restaurant.

Mr Rahman recently visited Bangladesh withRt. Jim Fitzpatrick, MP and former ministerfor food and farming, England, with celebritychef Mr. Tommy Miah, and met theBangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinaand Ex-Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia inDecember 2009.

He joined the 60th anniversary of NHS, UKwith Prince Charles at West Minster Abbey,invited by Rt. Allen Johnson, MP and formersecretary of state for health, UK.

Mr Rahman is married to Mrs. FahminChoudhury. They are blesse with threedaughters, Najyah Rahman Isha, MahdiyahRahman Rida and Amatul Rahman Amilah.The family lives in Hounslow, Middlesex.

NijamM Rahman

SECTOR:Business



Alhaj Md Sajjadur Rahman was born inDighal Bak village, Nabigonj, Habi Gonj District in1945. He has been married to Begum SadehaRahman for the past 41 years and has three sons,Abu Nasir, Shuebur & Maqsoodur and onedaughter Tahmina. After completing his studies inBangladesh hemoved to the UK in 1963 and set-tled in Bradford and was employed by NorthernTextile Mills whilst studying at Bradford TechnicalCollege and was involved in politics with theLabour Party, Trade Unions and dedicated his timeto significant community work. He made an im-mediate impact and established the HowardStreet Jame Masjid and set up the East PakistanPeoples Association.He returned to Bangladesh a few years later andwas elected as Dighal Bak Union Awami LeaguePresident after being involved in the set up of thesix point movement with Bangho Bandhu SheikhMujibur Rahman, and later helped the AwamiLeague to victory in the 1970 East Pakistan gen-eral election as one of the key strategists of theAwami League, working closely with Sheikh Mu-jibur Rahman, Dewan Forid Gazi, Abdur Razak,Abdus Samad Azad, SM Kibria and was the polit-ical advisor to Major General M A Rob.He was involved in the liberation movement, andwas a keymember of theMukhdi Judha FreedomFighters, putting himself and his family’s lives atrisk to help start the liberation process whicheventually led to the independence ofBangladesh. As a key strategist of the liberationmovement, the Awami League hierarchy encour-aged him to move back to the UK to help gain

support from the West for the independence ofBangladesh, which he helped influence throughhis involvement in politics in Britain.He moved to Luton in 1978 and was employedby General Motors until 1999 after taking earlyretirement due to ill health. During his time inEngland he was involved in community and char-ity work and help set up a number of initiativesincluding a Bengali School, Sports Clubs, Com-munity & Voluntary Groups and was a memberof several organisations as President, Secretaryand Treasurer. He was also a Trustee and a found-ing member of Bury Park Jame Masjid and Jalal-abad Mosque & Islamic Cultural Centre in Luton.He is currently President of Jalalabad Mosque &Islamic Cultural Centre, President of Luton AwamiLeague and Chairman of Al Furqhan FoundationTrust.He has dedicated a significant amount of his timeto community cohesion and social integration, Is-lamic affairs and charity work for which he hashelped raise an approximate £10m.He has helped set up a number of projects inBangladesh and third world countries to tackle in-equality and poverty, and established schools,health and employment initiatives and raised sub-stantial amounts of funds for good causes and de-veloped and influenced government policies totackle deprivation and poverty in various countries.He has received a number of awards over theyears including the Channel S Community Award2006 and is one of the most credible and re-spected members of the community in the UKand Bangladesh.

Alhaj Md SajjadurRahman

SECTOR:Politics, Community Relations,Philanthropy and Islamic A8airs

Anis Rahman is a practising barrister and a mag-istrate who was a Whitehall Civil Servant forTwenty years. Mr Rahman has a double Mastersdegree in International history and politics andgovernment from the Universityof London as wellas a Law degree from the University of Westmin-ster. Moreover, he has a postgraduate qualifica-tion in shipping law and international trade fromthe City University.Anis Rahman was called to the English Bar fromthe Honourable Society of Inner Temple and isnow an accredited Pupil Master. He is a memberof 12 Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn.

Mr Rahman has a civil litigation background andspecialises in Aviation, Employment, Housing,Family, Landlord and Tenant, Defamation, Immi-gration and Asylum, International Law as well asHuman Rights and Judicial Review. He has beengiven the direct public access status by the BarCouncil, which means that the public can go tohim directly for advice and representation.Outside of his profession, Mr Rahman has devotedmuch of his adult life in improving the quality oflife of other people both here in the UK and alsooverseas. His achievements include the creation ofUnited Nations Student Society combined Univer-sities in London in 1969 as well as assisting disad-vantaged British Bangladeshis. He was also thePresident of the United Nations Society at Inter-national Students House, London. Anis Rahman isa trustee of Toynbee Hall in East London, wherehe was one of the pioneers who established the

free legal advice clinic. He is also a trustee of theCouncil of Anti-Slavery International. Additionally,he was a trustee and Advisor of the World PeaceForum, which is a charity that promotes worldpeace and is run under the Nelson Mandela Chil-dren’s fund.Mr Rahman also played an important role duringthe liberation movement, when he joined theBangladesh Liberationmovement in the UK and be-came a founder member of the famousBangladeshi Student’s Action Committee. Anis Rah-man has served as a Justice of the Peace since 1990.Furthermore, he has been serving as an honorarylegal advisor to the Muslim Council of Britain,Toynbee Hall, The Muslim News, BritishBangladesh Chamber of Commerce, BangladeshCaterers Association, Bangladesh Centre, BanglaTV and the Euro Bangla.Mr Anis Rahman is a private and family man, he ismarried to Nadia Rahman, a French national. Hiswife has a French degree, as well as a BA (Hons)degree in Business Administration and an MBAwith Distinction from the University of London.

Anis Rahman has worked relentlessly as a barristerwhich has led to much of his success, and in ad-dition has provided the British Bangladeshi com-munity with an extensive amount of support andassistance, making him one of the recognisablepersonalities in the legal arena. In recognition ofhis endeavors, Mr Rahman was awarded an OBEby Her Majesty the Queen for his services toBangladeshis and the legal arena in 2009.

Anis Rahman OBE JP




Mr Ataur Rahman has Managing Director of JalalabadLaw Associates since 2001, dealing with legal protection ofImmigration and Asylum seekers, Human Rights Cases andFamily Unity cases and has been appearing before the Ap-pearing before the Asylum & Immigration Tribunal regularlysince 2000. Prior to this he was an employed Barrister atMathews Solicitors, Elephant & Castle.

Mr Rahman achieved his LLB (Hons) Degree in 1998 fromLondon Guildhall University. He has been a member of TheHonourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn since 1998 and was callto the Bar in 2000. He obtained his BSS (Hons) MSS in Po-litical Science under the Dhaka University (Jagonnath Col-lege). Moreover, he studied law at Dhaka Law College (LLB)and before coming to the UK in 1990, he was a practisinglawyer at the Dhaka Bar since Oct 1987 and has been en-rolled with the Bangladesh Supreme Court since 1991.

Ataur Rahman makes regular media appearances on Com-munity Channels such as Bangla TV, Channel S and previ-ously on Vectone Bangla. He has also been a member ofthe Greater Sylhet Welfare & Development Council in theUK for 15 years and was the General Secretary from 2002to 2008. He was also a Founding Assistant General Secre-tary to the Nottinghamshire Bangladesh Cultural & WelfareSociety between 1991 and 1996 and Project Co-ordinatorof Jalalabad Skills Audit for Bangladeshi Communityfunded by Nottinghamshire County Council and Notting-ham Task Force.

Ataur Rahman is an experienced campaigner, taking localissues, which have broader relevance on to the nationalstage. He has effectively campaigned on managed migra-tion, education, housing and racism. As a lawyer andcommunity activist, he is a key member of the Bangladeshiand Muslim Community and has had extensive experiencerepresenting individual cases and group issues.

Mr Rahman resides with his family in Redbridge, Essex.

Born in Mirpur, Syhlet, Bangladesh in 1958, Aziz-ur Rahmanmoved with parents to Oxford in 1969. Since 1978 he hasopened several restaurants and take-away establishments inOxfordshire.He opened his first restaurant at the age of twenty, called the‘Star of Asia’ and this venture was an instant success. He hasgained a reputation for excellence in all his restaurants. TheAziz restaurants have gained national and international recog-nition as one of the best in the country and have won awards,on a regular basis, for excellence over the years.

His portfolio of restaurants past and present include the ‘BilashRestaurant’ opened in 1984 in Botley, Oxford, as well as the‘Polash’ opened in 1988. He then opened the ‘Aziz’ Restau-rant in 1990 and Aziz Burford as well as the Aziz watersidethen ‘Aziz Witney’, ‘Aziz Pandesia’ followed in quick succes-sion in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 respectively. In 1997 he es-tablished the ‘Khajana’. Mr Rahman is the Director ofOxfordshire Business Enterprise, Founder Trustee of the Jagan-nath Pur Education Trust, Member of the Jagannath PurProbashi (UK) Kollayan Trust; Trustee of Learn Foundation, anda Trustee of the Bangladesh Female Academy (UK), a Trusteeand Chairman of the management committee Iqra School, Ox-ford. He is also Member and advisor to the OxfordshireBangladeshi Association, Executive Member of theBangladeshi Mosque and Education Centre, Cowley, Oxford,as well as Director of the English Language Learning Institute(ELLI), Dhaka, Bangladesh.Mr Aziz-ur Rahman is a founding member of EuropeanBangladesh Federation.He was the first Chairman of the Guild of Bangladeshi Restau-rateurs. He was the Chairman of Greater Sylhet AssociationUK for South East region.

Furthermore Mr Rahman remains involved in charitable causesand is associated with Oxfam over seventeen years and is par-ticularly interested in relief projects to Bangladesh.

Mr Rahman’s interests include, traveling, sports, especiallyfootball and cricket. He is a family man, married with foursons, one daughter and a grandson. He was recently awardedan Honorary Doctorate from Oxford Brookes University.

Ataur Rahman

SECTOR:Legal

Aziz-ur Rahman

SECTOR:Catering




Lutfur Rahman is the first Executive Mayor of Tower Ham-lets, directly elected to represent the London BoroughCouncil in October 2010. Having previously been a solicitorand partner in a leading London Law firm, Lutfur used hisexperience in both law and politics in pursuit of a passionfor social justice and the betterment of people’s lives. Hisdeep knowledge and understanding of the East End ofLondon has been developed over many years in close con-tact with people from all walks of life.

Lutfur has worked relentlessly with residents of the bor-ough and has implemented very successful and highlypopular initiatives, culminating in 2 successful terms asLeader of the Council in 2008 and 2009 before becomingdirectly elected Mayor in 2010.

Deeply committed to the values and aims of the LabourParty, he has been an activist for many years, includingcampaigning for and participating in the GMC and LGC.He was the ward secretary, Spitalfields and Bangla Townfrom 2006 to February 2007, elected three times as coun-cillor for Spitafields and Bangla Town in May 2002, 2006and 2010, appointed as Chair of Development Panel, May2002 and was the Lead Member for Education and YouthServices, 2003-2005. He has also been the Lead Memberfor Culture.

He was a member and general secretary (1987- 89) of theProgressive Youth Organisation, founding member andfirst treasurer (1990) of Keen Students School (KSS) andtrustee of Tower Hamlets and Canary Wharf EducationTrust (2003-05). He was a member and General Secretaryof Community Alliance for Police Accountability (CAPA)in 1988, member and Chairman of Tower Hamlets LawCentre from 1996 - 2001. Lutfur Rahman was the boardmemeber of the Poplar and Leaside Regeneration Project(SRB6) (2001-2002) and from 2001 to 2008 was the Non- Executive Director for the Board of Barts & The Royal Lon-don NHS Trust. He was also a member of the Law Socityand Law Society Advanced Children Law Panel.

At the Muslim Council of Britain’s Legal Affairs Committeehe has provided expert policy advice and proposals whileat the Tower Hamlets Law Centre he harnessed the collec-tive expertise of fellow lawyers to help make the Law Cen-tre a dynamic professional body, which attracts goodlawyers ready to undertake pro bono work. He is marriedwith one son and one daughter.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman

SECTOR:Politics and Legal


Habib Rahman is the Chief Executive of theJoint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants(JCWI), a high profile national independentorganisation, which exists to campaign forjustice in immigration, nationality, asylumand human rights law and policy. JCWI wasestablished in 1967 and he has held his po-sition since 1999.

Before joining JCWI, Habib Rahman workedfor over 15 years as a Senior Caseworkerwith management and campaigning respon-sibilities at Tower Hamlets Law Centre. Heembraced this opportunity to serve the de-serving people of Tower Hamlets and got ac-tively involved in many influentialcommunity organisations including TowerHamlets Association for Racial Justice(THARJ) for which he was a founding mem-ber and acting Chairman. For a period HabibRahman also served as a member of theHuman Rights committee of the LabourParty’s National Executive.

Before commencing on his professional ca-reer in the community sector Habib Rahmancompleted his studies at Dhaka University inBangladesh as well as University CollegeLondon.

After completion of his education, Mr Rah-man joined the private sector as a manager.Whilst working in the private sector, he be-came aware of the poor working conditionsof migrant workers in the catering industryin the United Kingdom and actively organ-ised them to join a trade union, which led toa high profile campaign at the time.

Habib Rahman is a dedicated human rightsactivist and he considers himself as fortunatein the he has been able to pursue this callingin his professional life.

Habib Rahman

SECTOR:Community (NGO)

Dr Moijur A. Rahman was born in villageAbdullapur, Beanibazar, Sylhet and arrived inthe UK at the age of 8. He is the eldest sonof Late Alhaj Malik Uddin who was a teacherin his village.

Dr Rahman obtained his Medical Degree fromUniversity of Birmingham, and his PhD fromBirmingham andOxford universities in ClinicalImmunology. He currently holds the post ofConsultant of Diabetes and Endocrinology ata top UK teaching hospital. Notably, Dr Rah-man is the first Bangladeshi Doctor to spe-cialise in pancreas transplantation.

Dr Rahman is the Founder Chairman of twoUK based private charities started in 2000.Firstly an educational charity, The MalikuddinFoundation that awards scholarships tosome of the brightest and talented studentswho attend Comprehensive and GrammarSchools of Walsall. Many of whom havegone to study Medicine, Law, PPE and otherdisciplines at Oxford, Cambridge and othertop UK universities. The programme is nowwidely recognised by local education author-ity, the schools and leading UK universities.The charity’s ambit is now being extendedto greater Sylhet and Dhaka.

The second charity set up by Dr Rahman isThe Village Doctor International workingwith Medecins Sans Frontieres. His charityprovides free medical services to some of thepoorest regions of Bangladesh. The serviceis provided by a team of UK doctors includ-ing himself and includes setting up a fieldhospital where the team diagnose, treat andprovide care of the people.

Dr Moijur Rahman has three siblings, his twoyounger brothers Atabur and Abadur, bothare in the medical profession and his sisterKulsuma is a teacher. He is married to Ra-heena (a GP) the eldest daughter of AlhajAbdur Rahman of Manchester.

Dr Rahman is a Member of Royal College ofPhysicians, Member of Association of Sur-geons in Training (Royal College of SurgeonsLondon) and Fellow of Royal Society of Med-icine. He was awarded a prize by Channel Sfor his relentless contribution to the commu-nity.

Dr. Moijur A. RahmanBSc(Hons), MB, ChB,MRCP, ASiT, PhD.

SECTOR:Medicine andEducation



Mahbub Rahman was born in Dhaka,Bangladesh in 1968. His father is the lateMohammed Fazlur Rahman. Mr Rahman’searly education was in Dhaka, and subse-quently he completed his secondary andhigher secondary education in Sylhet beforeobtaining his degree.

Mahbub Rahman took his first step into theworld of journalism by writing articles forvarious national publications whilst at col-lege in 1986. He became a staff reporter forthe daily Sylheter Dak in 1987.

Mr Rahman continued to work for a num-ber of publications as well as a televisionstation until 2006. Between 1997 and 2000he worked as the UK correspondent for oneof the daily newspapers in Bangladeshcalled Daily Sangbad. He was also the newseditor for the weekly Notun Din during thistime. Mr Rahman settled with his family inthe UK in 1997. In 1999 Mr Rahman movedinto television and started working forBangla TV as the Programme Planner andProgramme Manager. He became the Headof News for the station after three years. Heheld this role for one year before leaving tojoin Curry Life magazine, where he was theExecutive Editor for the bi-monthly maga-zine that is aimed at the curry industry. He

left this role in 2006 and has since been em-ployed as a Communication Officer forTower Hamlets Council in London’s eastend.

Mr Rahman has represented, and is a mem-ber of, many organisations that exist withinthe trade such as the National Union ofJournalists and the Commonwealth Jour-nalist Association. He is an ex Assistant Gen-eral Secretary of the London Bangla PressClub and is a permanent member of theSylhet Press Club. He was the OrganisingSecretary of the Sylhet Union of Journalistsand is the ex President of the Sylhet Photo-graphic Society.

Mahbub Rahman is married to Hasna Rah-man who is a senior officer for the Depart-ment of Constitutional Affairs. They havetwo daughters called Mehjaben Rahmanand Atiya Rahman.

Mahbub Rahman

SECTOR:Media

Mr.Mahidur Rahman came to UK in 1975 andcompleted his studies and also within a fewyears he emerged as a successful businessman,politician and volunteer of social service. He isat present the president of Asian Council forHuman Rights UK, Kent Branch (BCA) and Ash-ford Muslim Association. He is also the vice-president of Bangladesh Caterers AssociationUK and founding treasurer of Greater SylhetDevelopment andWelfare Council UK. He is theFounding Coordinator of its south-east region.Mr. Rahman is at present the treasurer and gen-eral secretary, London Boroughs of BangladeshiAssociation, UK and joint secretary of MouloviBazar Jonosheba Somity.

At present, Mr. Rahman is actively involved inmany distinguished organisations. He is a lifemember of the Mouluvi Bazar Zela Red Cres-cent Society and Jalalabad Hospital for Disableand Rehabilitation Centre Sylhet and also amember of the support group UK. He has deliv-erered his service to the community as a mem-ber of the Home Secretary’s Standing AdvisoryCouncil on Race Relation for two years. At pres-ent, Mr. Rahman is the president of UK-Associ-ation for Human Rights (UK-AHR),Euro-Bangladesh Business Consortium,

Bangladesh Centre for Social development UKand British Bangladeshi Business Club.

In addition Mr. Rahman has played importantrole in establishing and fundraising for manyMosques and Madrashas’, support runningschools for the destitute children inBangladesh, Free Friday Clinics, and personallycontinuing to help build houses for the needy,medical treatment, etc.

Mr. Mahidur Rahman has made his name as aprominent politician of the Bangladesh Nation-alist Party (BNP). He played an important role inshaping its establishment in UK and other Euro-pean Country. In 1992 he was made a co-con-venor of the UK-BNP and in 1994, the president.Through his tireless work he formed 12 BNPbranches throughout the UK. Currently he isthe international affairs secretary of BNP centralcommittee and is looking after the political as-pect of European BNP as co-coordinator.

Mr. Rahman is married and has two children.His son graduated in Business Managementand is currently a banker and his daughter is aUniversity,student.

Mahidur Rahman




Abu Nasir is viewed by most as one of the most influentialAsians in Britain with credibility and integrity at the highestlevel. He studied Public Policy & Management, Political Science,MBA, and possesses professional accreditations in Leadership& Management, Project Management Institute and CharteredManagement Institute. He is the son of Alhaj Md Sajjadur Rah-man (politician, community leader and Awami League Presi-dent) and Mrs Sadeha Rahman.

He has been successful in his career in the public and privatesectors in the areas of Regeneration, Financial Management,Programmes & Project Management, Public Policy, Neighbour-hood Renewal, Community Development and ProfessionalFootball Industry and has managed multi million pounds privateand public sector budgets. He is currently employed in a man-agement capacity in Local Government with Luton BoroughCouncil and is the most senior officer from a Bangladeshi back-ground.

He is involved in and represents a number of Boards and Com-mittees including Chairman of Governors at a Luton School,Director of Diverse Cities and Treasurer of Urban Forum. He hasserved as Chairman and Board Member for a number of or-ganisations in the private, public and voluntary sectors and iscurrently Chairman of Luton Sporting Club, BME FootballForum, Chair of County FA Race Equality Committee, Ambas-sador for Kick it Out, and a key member of Liverpool FootballClub’s SC Committee and advisor to the club’s owners andBoard and is an Ambassador for Liverpool FC. Nasir has workedas an advisor to the British and Bangladeshi Governments atministerial level, the European Union and also the Football As-sociation and UEFA. He has helped with policy developmentand election manifestos for the Labour Party in the past andhas been involved in developing a number of key policies forGovernment and public sector organisations.His business interests include a property portfolio, managementconsultancy, finance & investment, catering, football academy& sports management agency and property developmentschemes in the UK and Bangladesh.

A talented footballer in his youth, Abu Nasir represented LutonTown at schoolboy and County level, Liverpool FC and playedsemi professionally. He is also an FA licensed football coach andis an influential member of Liverpool Football Club and a life-long fan who works regularly with Liverpool FC and the Foot-ball Association to increase Asian participation in professionalfootball and regularly attends Liverpool and England matches.

Mizanur Rahman is a prominent media activist, based in Ed-inburgh, Scotland, engaged with Bengali press and media inthe UK.Mizanur Rahman was born & grew up in the village of Tikria,Srimongal, Moulvibazar. He is older son of Md Faizur Rahman,Retd. Health Inspector and mother Mrs Monwara Begum. Hehas completed secondary education from BTRI High Schooland Higher Secondary from Sreemongal Govt College.Mr Rahman has a double Masters degree in Zoology fromMCCollege Sylhet under National University of Bangladesh withdistinction as well as MSC in Sustainable Development fromthe University of Stirling, Scotland in 2006.He began his career as a lecturer of Zoology in ModonmohonUniversity College, Sylhet. Later in 2000, nature lover MizanRahman joined the Dhaka based environmental research or-ganisation CNRS (Centre for Natural Research Studies) as a Bi-ologist in UNDP funded Natural Resource Management andConservation program across the wetland area of Bangladesh.On completion of his study Mizaur began to live and work inEdinburgh. He has been working for Edinburgh & LothiansRacial Equality Council as a Community Development Officer.The position provided him opportunity to serve the commu-nity. He provides freelance consultancy service in ethnic mediaand third sector.

He also decided to do some community work in his spare time.It wasn’t always his plan to become a journalist but alwayskeen to tell a good story, as he began his journalistic career asa sideline at local weekly in the early 1990s. He contributedmany articles and features in the Bengali newspapers.Being a dynamic and talented person Mr Rahman started jour-nalism as a Scotland Correspondent for Channel S Televisionin 2006. For his outstanding professional excellence in report-ing to promote Bangladeshi Community in Scotland he wonthe ‘‘Channel S Chairman Award’’ in 2008.He is a member of London Bangla Press Club and NationalUnion of Journalists (NUJ). Mr Rahman was a t British RedCross first-aid volunteer in Scotland from the Bangladeshibackground.

Key to his success is his commitment to working for the com-munity. He is planning to work towards the development of TVjournalism with those involved in covering news ofBangladeshi community in the UK and abroad.

MdAbu NasirRahman

SECTOR:Government,Sports and Business

Mizanur Rahman

SECTOR:Media & & CommunityDevelopment



Mohammed Ahbabur Rahman (Miron)was born on September 10, 1970 to lateShafiqur Rahman Khan and Saleha Khatunin Balagonj, Sylhet. He came to the UK withhis parents in 1985. Before coming to theUK, he did his SSC from Bangladesh, andhad done his A-Level in Waltheof SecondarySchool in Sheffield. He started working inan Indian restaurant in Buckingham. Thattime Mr. Rahman also did a volunteeringcharity work and raised 1250 pounds tohelp the victims in the Bangladesh flood. Hischarity works attracted the attention oflocal newspapers and the press congratu-lated him in the Luton Town Hall.

He was asked by other charities to join themwhere he did some considerable works toraise huge amount of money. Mr. Rahmanmoved to Milton Keyenes in 1989 andstarted his first business there called MysoorIndian Cuisine. Two years later he left thebusiness to his partner and resettled inSheffield to start two takeaways. He alsowas involved with other communal activitiesthere. He later opened two more businessesin Milton Keyenes.

Mr. Rahman went back to Bangladesh and

got married in 1995. After coming back tothe UK, he became the chairman of theBangladesh Welfare Association. After twoyears Bangladesh Welfare Association andBangladesh Citizens Neighbourhoodmerged to form a single organization,where Mr. Rahman became the general sec-retary and stayed in that post for threeyears.

Mr. Rahman also stood for the local councilelection as a Respect Party candidate as thefirst Bangladeshi to contest in the electionfrom Sheffield. He started a new businessin Barnsley called ‘The Original Dilraj’.

Presently he is the chairman of Sheffield’sAlyah Masjid and has a own charity organ-ization called ‘Help One Help All’. He is thefounder chairman of this organizationthrough which he helps the destitutes inSylhet.

Mr. Rahman is married and has two sonsand one daughter.

Mohammed AhbaburRahman (Miron)

SECTOR:Business and communityrelations

Mohammad Hafizur Rahman was born in1958, in Katia, Jagannatpur, Sylhet. He waseducated in Katia Madresha and completedhis primary education from Purbo Katia Pri-mary School. His secondary education com-menced at Khadimpur High School, wherehe successfully completed SSC. Mr Rahman’seducation was completed at Sylhet VarsityCollege.

After his education, Mr Rahman arrived tothe UK in 1983, where he was employed byhis brother at his business. Mr Rahmangained much valuable experience whilstworking at his brother’s restaurant which al-lowed him to open his own business, inpartnership.

The business prospered and after sometime,he started another venture, in partnershipwith late Nurul Islam Hussain, a well knownfigure in the community.

During this time, Mr Rahman was involved invarious other businesses, at present he is amanaging director of Hafiz group of restau-rants.He is the publisher and chairman of EditorialBoard of Abhimot monthly magazine. He is

involved with many cultural oganisations,here in the UK and abroad.

Mr Rahman is a founding trustee and gen-eral secretary of Cheltenham Al MadinaMosque and Cheltenham Bangladeshi Asso-ciation; he is also a chairman of CheltenhamEthnic Minority Forum and Greater KatiaWelfare Trust. Mr Rahman is very passionateabout his country and his people. He is ac-tive in many projects, helping the less fortu-nate students of Bangladesh, prosper andbuild better lives for themselves.

He is the founder trustee of JagannathpurBritish Bangla Education Trust. Recently hehas been made an advisor of Sylhet Acad-emy, of UK and Europe sections.

Mr Rahman lives with his wife and 4 childrenin Cheltenham (heart of the Cotswold)Gloucestershire.

Mohammad Ha:zurRahman

SECTOR:Catering andMedia



Mohammad Lutfur Rahman is familiar both in the UKand in Bangladesh as a successful businessman and phi-lanthropist. Mr. Rahman was born in 1957 Tegharia villageof the number 7 Syedpur-Sharpara Union of Jagannathpur,Sylhet. His father, Kalamdar Miah, was distinguished in thearea for his role as an advisor and prominent member ofthe community.

Mr. Rahman, migrated to the United Kingdom in 1975.Prior to his arrival, he had completed his education inBangladesh. After working for some time in various insti-tutes, he started his own business. He also began his workfor the Bangladeshi community in the United Kingdom.

At present Mr Rahman he has a variety of businesses inCambridge, Kent and London. He is the owner of the‘Sonargaon’ restaurant established in East London.

For an extensive period of time Mohammed Lutfur Rah-man was the Chairman of the Cambridge BangladeshiWelfare Association. He is also one of the main organisersof the Cambridge Bangladeshi festival.

Mr. Rahman established a secondary school in his village inBangladesh. His other altruistic actions have included ex-tending his hand of help to his country during times of dis-aster and has donated to the establishment of a HighSchool in his local village. He married Juhra Chowdhury in1982, and they have two sons (Ujjal and Uttam) and twodaughters (Sumi and Rumi). His children attend educa-tional institutes in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Rahman lives in Cambridge with his family.

Mohammed Mohidur Rahman was born in the village ofDhorogaw in Sylhet to Late Al-haj Abdul Goni who was a re-tired member of Bangladesh Army and Mrs. MonowaraKhanom.

Mr Rahman completed his HSC from Modon Mohan Collegein Sylhet before arriving in the United Kingdom.Although Mr Rahman was involved in various businesses inLondon, he was not content and was craving for offering him-self to the Real estate sector in Bangladesh –a result of whichis Probashi Palli, a large Housing Project based in Dhaka.Being innovative in his plans and honest in his intention tocontribute single-handedly to the benefit of NRB’s living allover the world, Mr Mohidur Rahman stepped forward to re-alise his dream Project called “Probashi Palli” in Bangladeshwhich specialises in offering plots, flats and investments atcomparatively affordable prices.

At present he is the Managing Director of Inspired Develop-ment Ltd. Who are the developers of Probashi Palli. After re-ceiving a positive response for Probashi Palli, Mr MohidurRahman has launched his latest venture “Purbachal ProbashiPalli” which is situated in Dhaka.Along side real estate he is also the Managing Director of HotelBlack Rose International. Mr Rahman is involved with otherhousing and hospitality businesses. He is the Project Directorof Purbachal Shah Paran City in Sylhet as well as Proprietor ofHotel Fahim International and a Project Director of the pro-posed five star hotel Six Seasons.

Mohammed Mohidur Rahman resides with his wife RashedaBegum and three other children in their family home in Ilford,Essex.

MohammadLutfur Rahman

SECTOR:Businessman

MOHAMMEDMOHIDURRAHMAN

SECTOR:Real Estate



Mohammed Mujibur Rahman is the cur-rent General Secretary of Bangladesh Cen-tre, London, and the joint Secretary of voicefor Justice UK.He was born in village Kalijuri, Golapgonj,Sylhet in Bangladesh.

Mr Rahman studied at the Madan MohonCollege in Sylhet where he achieved his firstdegree in 1979 and later in 1983 he com-pleted his LLB (Hons) from Dhaka LawCollege. Mr Rahman continued his studiesin Bangladesh as he completed the Masterof commerce degree in 1984 at theJagonnath University College in Dhaka.Once in the UK, Mr Rahman completed hisPost Graduation Certificate in Education in1993 from East London University.

He was the General Secretary of the Stu-dent council at Al Emdad High School andduring his time at the Madan Mohon Col-lege, Mr Rahman was elected magazinesecretary of the student council.Mr Rahman was also the joint foundingconvenor of the Jalalabad Chhatra KallyanSamity based in Jogonnath UniversityCollege Dhaka from 1980 to 1981.He was as elected President of the student

organisation from1981 to1983.In addition to Mr Mohammed Mujibur Rah-man’s full time role as a primary schoolteacher in the London Borough of TowerHamlets, he is also a very active member ofthe community. Since April 2005, Mr Rah-man has been the General Secretary ofJatiya party as well as the Vice chairmanof the Central Shaheed Minar CommitteeUK. Likewise he is also an Executive Com-mittee Member of the Bangladesh WelfareAssociation. He is also the President of Bud-hbari Bazar Welfare Association UK.

Moreover, he is founding trustee of Gulap-gonj Welfare Association and EducationTrust, Mother & Child Trust and currently asenior joint Secretary of Gulapgonj-beaniBazar Oikya Sangstha. He was TreasurerTower Hamlet Law Centre. Mujibur Rahmanis married to Helen Begum Rahman. Theyhave one son and four daughters who areall students. In 2005, the family won BanglaTV’s Best Family Award.Mr Rahman’s interest includes readingbooks, community welfare and travelling.

MohammedMujiburRahman

SECTOR:Community Relationsand Academia

Born in Noakhali, Bangladesh, in 1934.Serajur Rahman had his schooling in Cal-cutta, matriculating with distinction in 1947from Mitra Institution. He was actively in-volved in the Mukuler Mahfil juvenile organ-isation and published articles and shortstories in the juvenile sections of the DailyAzad, Daily Nabajug and weekly Millat ofCalcutta. His initiation in broadcasting wasalso in Calcutta where he regularly partic-pated in school broadcast programmes of AllIndia Radio.

After the partition of India in 1947 hemoved to Dhaka, East Pakistan, and got ad-mitted in the Dhaka College. When the Lan-guage Movement started in 1948 SerajurRahman joined it whole-heartedly and waselected by his college to liaise with theDhaka University Students' Action Commit-tee.

Serajur Rahman joined journalism in parralellwith his education. After serving in thenews departments of the Bi-weekly Pakistan,Daily Zindegi, Daily Insaf and the Daily Millat,he was appointed editor of the British Infor-mation Service in Dhaka in January 1953.Under his leadership the press section wasexpanded eventually to 12 journalists. With

their help Serajur Rahman edited a daily bi-lingual news bulletin, the fortnightly BritishDarpan (mirror) and the magazine AjkerCommonwealth.In addition to the BIS job Serajur Rahmanwas also a parti time leader writer (AssistantEditor) in the Daily Ittefaq from 1954 to endof 1959.

In January 1960 he joined the then EastPakistan section of the BBC World Service.By the time of his retirement in February1994 he rose from Programme Asstt. to Pro-ducer, Senior Producer, Asstt. ProgrammeOrganiser and Deputy Head of the much en-larged Bengali Service of the BBC.The BBC's Bengali broadcasts under SerajurRahman's leadership during the liberationwar of Bangladesh brought hope and suc-cour to the people of the then East Pakistanwho almost universally thronged to the BBCBengali Service for true news of what washappening in their neighbourhoods.Though somewhat clandestinely, he also co-ordinated the movement's internationalpublicity. Through years of contact he be-came close to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,leader of Bangladesh's independence. Healso personally knewmost of the top leadersof the country.

A. N. M. SerajurRahman

SECTOR:Media (Journalist andBroadcaster)



Sheikh Mohammed Mofizur Rahman is a Senior HousingManager in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The LocalGovernment worker is also Chairman of the weekly BanglaPost newspaper. Born in Balagonj, Sylhet in Bangladesh, MrRahman completed his primary education there before mov-ing to the UK in 1972.

Having completed his primary education at his local villageschool in Bangladesh, Mr Rahman moved to the UK and at-tended the Robert Monefiore secondary school and pro-gressed on to City and East London College where hecompleted his A- Levels. The former community developmentworker later graduated from the Hackney Technical Collegewith a degree on Housing Law and Property Management.Mr Rahman started his career working with the North LondonCommunity Task Force which later evolved into a job with theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets working on the Housingdepartment as a community worker. Through hard and a first-class work ethic, Mr Rahman soon became a Senior HousingManager.Whilst fulfilling a full time job, Mr Rahman is also involved innumerous community welfare projects both in the UK andBangladesh.Currently, Mr Rahman Chairing the UK branch of the NirapodSarak Chai project as well as being involved with the Anju-man-ETalimul Quran programme. Mr Rahman is also currentlya Patron to the Bisho Shahito Kendro project in addition tobeing trustee on both the Balagonj Education Trust andM.M Sheba Trust in Bangladesh.

Mr Rahman throughout his life has always worked on educa-tion projects and currently been elected as Vice-Chairman forboth Thomas Buxton school governing body and the BalagonjCollege Development Committee UK. The local governmentworker is also a board member on the Greater Sylhet Welfareand Development Council UK and the Balagonj-OsmaniNagar Upozila Shomithy.

Essentially, Mr Rahman will always be remembered as theleading campaigner against the racist attack on Altab Ali in1978. The local government officer is married to ShaharaBegum and are blessed with four sons, Sheikh Khalilur Rah-man, Sheikh Aminur Rahman, Sheikh Rashedur Rahman andSheikh Waliur Rahman.

Syedur Rahman Ranu JP was born in the village of Tahar-lamu, Rajnagar in Moulvibazar. His father is Al Haj HabiburRahman.Mr Rahman completed his high school education in RajnagarPortious High School in Rajnagar and obtained his degree fromMoulvibazar Govt. College.

Mr. Rahman arrived in this country in 1978 with his parents.He also enrolled in a Business and Management course in Eng-land. He then began his successful career in 1985. He nowowns a chain of restaurant businesses and numerous proper-ties in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Rahman’s business interests do not end there, as he is alsoa Managing Director of MRK Developments Ltd, which is thecompany behind his assets in the property market inBangladesh. He also is the Managing Director of a hotel busi-ness called ‘Hotel White Pearl’ in Gulshan, Dhaka.

Apart from his business activities he is also involved in variouscommunity organizations in the UK; he is a very well knownperson in the British Bangladeshi Community in the UK. He isholding the prestigious position of Vice Chairman for theBangladesh British Chamber of Commerce. He is Vice Chair-man of weekly Notun Din, a well received Bengali newsweeklybased in London and General Secretary of Greater Sylhet Wel-fare and Development Council South East region in UK andhe is also the Vice Chairman of Guild of Bangladeshi Restau-rateur in the UK.

Mr. Rahman’s other passions is to be involved in various char-ities. He has helped many from his homeland, especially poorbut intelligent students who were unable to fund their educa-tion. He has also helped develop schools, colleges andmosques and continues to donate very generously to variouscharities.

Syedur Rahman Ranu is married to Rahela Rahman and theyhave two sons and one daughter. They reside in Winkfield,Berkshire. Mr. Rahman’s interests and hobbies include travelingas a result of which he has been fortunate in visiting severaldifferent countries. He also enjoys politics, both British

SheikhMohammedMo:zur Rahman

SECTOR:Local Government

Syedur RahmanRanu JP

SECTOR:Catering



Mr Aminur Rashid is the current General Secretary of theWelsh Asian Council. A Chartered Engineer by profession, MrRashid has been one of the most active members of theBangladeshi Community in South Wales. Born in Manikganj,Dhaka in Bangladesh, Mr Rashid came to the UK in 1965 tostudy Civil Engineering on completion of Intermediate ScienceExamination (I.Sc) from Dhaka Government College.

After gaining B.Sc (Eng) degree in Civil Engineering fromCardiff University, Mr Rashid obtained further professionalqualifications as the M.I.C.E (Member of the Institution of CivilEngineers), the M.I.H.T (Member of the institution of High-ways and Transportation), and the A.M.E (Member, Associa-tion of Municipal Engineers).

Mr Rashid was employed by Newport City Council where hewas eventually promoted to the post of Highways NetworkManager and carried on at this post for approximately 23 yearsafter which he took early retirement.Mr Rashid has been a prominent member of the BangladeshiCommunity in South Wales; He played a commendable roleduring the liberation movement of Bangladesh where MrRashid was elected as the General Secretary of Bangladesh Ac-tion Committee, South Wales. In 1971, together with theBangladeshi community, Mr Rashid formed “Bangladesh As-sociation Cardiff” where he was General Secretary for manyyears. Currently he is the Vice-Chairman of the organisation.He has also been the recipient of the Channel “S” Communityaward 2008.

Mr Rashid is currently the Chairman of “Cardiff and Vale RaceEquality Council”. He has also been elected a Board Memberof the “Communities First Local Partnership Group” supportedby Welsh Assembly Government and Cardiff City Council. TheEngineer has been a Governor of a Cardiff High School and aPrimary school for nearly 21 years. He is also a board memberof “South Wales Intercultural Community Arts”, “Cardiff andDistrict Multicultural Arts Development”, and also “Black Vol-untary Sector Network Wales”, for many years.

Mr Rashid is also a board member for many other communityrelation initiatives. He is involved with various mosques inCardiff. He is married Shirin Rashid and they are blessed withthree children. Mr Rashid is a huge cricket fan and followsfootball, golf, rugby and snooker amongst other sports. Hisother hobbies include walking, reading and listening to music.

Mahmoud A Rauf is a qualified accountant. Born in 1946 inNabiganj, Sylhet in Bangladesh, Mr Rauf was educated inBangladesh before coming to the UK in 1968. He studied at theMadan Mohan College completing his B.Com in 1966 and in1968 left for UK to further his education in accountancy. As astudent, Mr Rauf took part in the political events such as the anti-Ayub Movement and when the Liberation War began in 1971Mr Rauf was an executive member of the Bangladesh StudentAction Committee in the UK.

Before his arrival to the UK, Mr Rauf was the Acting President ofEast Pakistan Chhatra Union in Sylhet as well as volunteering atan eye camp organized by Jalalabad Blind Welfare Association. Inaddition to being an accountant, Mr He is an executive memberof the Asian Drama Group. Mr Rauf is also serving as the Chair-man of a group called Bengali National Cultural Society UK.

One of the pioneers behind East London’s Boishakhi Mela, MrRauf was also behind the construction of the Shaheed Minarmonument in Whitechapel’s Altab Ali Park.Throughout the last twenty years Mr Rauf has also been volun-tarily involved with East London based organisations such as theTower Hamlets Community Empowerment Network, Brick LaneBusiness Association, Tower Hamlets Training/Business forum,Community Organisation Forum, City-side Regeneration Ltd andthe Banglatown Consultative Forum.

Currently in Bangladesh Mr Rauf is a life member of Mukitijud-dha Smriti Trust as well as the chairman of the board of directorsof the Bangla language newspaper ‘Notun Desh’. On the mediafront Mr Rauf was a director of the weekly publication ‘SylheterDak’ as well as being a founding member of Bangladeshi Jour-nalists Association UK.

He is married to Ju-E-Shams and they have a daughter and a son.Their daughter Sohani completed her degree in Psychology andis a post graduate in Education (PGCE) from the University ofLondon and their son Raziq completed his Honours and Mastersin Geography on Space Management from the University ofManchester. Raziq is a qualified journalist currently working withVirgin Radio.

AMINUR RASHIDB.Sc (Eng), C.Eng,M.I.C.E, M.I.H.T, A.M.E.

SECTOR:Engineering

Mahmoud A Rauf

SECTOR:Accounting



MdMohibur Rahman is a highly successfulentrepreneur and active member of theLabour Party in the UK. His ancestral homeis in the village of Baushi, Sylhet,Bangladesh. His father , Late Habibur Rah-man served in the Pakistan Army before im-migrating to the U.K. During the liberationwar of Bangladesh, he played an instrumen-tal role in forming the action committee inBirmingham, that worked for the causeBangladesh’s independence. Md MohiburRahman came to the UK in 1970 with hisMother (Late) Korpura Khatun to join his Fa-ther.As a student in the UK, Mr Rahman studiedAccounting and Government & Politics. Heowns hotels and restaurants both in the UKand abroad. He is the Managing Director ofOasis Ltd, Ahar Ltd and Modumita Ltd.Apart from being in business, he excelled inpolitics as well .Mr Rahman is the ex-Chair-man of the Nailsworth Labour Party. In2000, he was elected as the firstBangladeshi Councillor in Gloucestershireand was re-elected in 2011.He is also known for his charitable work. MrRahman is the Chairman of Habibur Rah-man Charitable Trust which builds homes forthe needy people in Bangladesh. He is also

the founder chair and trustee of theGloucestershire Bangladeshi Association,and ex-supervisor of Stroud Credit Union.Mr Rahman’s favourite pastime is writingand reading poems. He produced a cassettecontaining Bengali and English verses andMustofa Kamal of Radio Bangladesh recitedthem. Many of his English poems were pub-lished in the Gloucestershire Citizen.Mr Rahman married in 1983 to Syeda Luh-fun Nessa Khatun. Together they have foursons Shahedur, Sadequr, Saifur and Mustafi-jur. Shahedur Rohman (LLB) is a Legal Advi-sor for the RAC, second son SadequrRohman (B.A.Hons) working in Lloyds TSB,third son Saifur Rohman is studying BScComputer Science at King’s College London,and the youngest Mustafijur Rohman isstudying A Levels at Cirencester College.

Cllr MdMohibur Rahman

SECTOR:xxxxx

Mukul Chandra Ray resides in East Londonand is a Teacher and EMA coordinator forHalley Primary School in Tower Hamlets. MrRay is also an ex- Lecturer at the Sylhet Gov-ernment Women’s College in Bangladesh.He completed his primary education in Haro-gram, Sylhet and then went onto finish hissecondary education from BN High School.

He did his Higher Secondary educationat Sunamganj College in Sunamganj.Having concluded his secondary education,Mr Ray progressed to Victoria GovernmentCollege in Comilla where he graduated witha Bachelor of Science degree. Mukul Chan-dra Ray then obtained a Masters of Sciencepostgraduate degree in Pure Mathematicsfrom the world-renowned Dhaka University.Once in England Mr Ray followed suit andalso attained a Masters Degree from theUniversity of London in Pure Mathematics.Finally successfully completing the PGCEfrom Goldsmiths College, University of Lon-don, giving him the qualification that allowshim to teach.

Mr Ray is married with a son and a daughterwho have advanced in their father’s foot-steps in completing higher education, ob-taining degrees and working as

professionals. In addition Mukul ChandraRay has retained membership of many com-munity and social initiatives.

He is the teacher governor at Halley PrimarySchool; he is a former executive committeemember of the Bangladesh Teachers Associ-ation UK, and also a past member of the ex-ecutive committee of the Collective ofBangladeshi School governors.Furthermore he is the joint secretary of theHindu Progoti Sangha, UK.

Mr Mukul Chandra Ray is a well educatedand extremely respected member of theBritish Bangladeshi Community, and hisachievements in education and now as aTeacher has made him a recognised individ-ual within the academic sphere.

Mukul Chandra Ray

SECTOR:Academia



Dr Bijan Kumar Saha completed his MBBSat the University of Dhaka in 1968 beforecoming to the UK where in 1974 he ob-tained his Diploma in Medical Radiotherapyafter which he was in clinical practice in ahospital. Dr Saha subsequently achieved theLMSSA from the Conjoint Board in Londonin 1981 before changing career and becom-ing a GP in the late 1980’s.

Dr Saha hails from the village of Utholi inManikgonj and currently resides in Kent. Hehas established his own medical practice atthe Lakeside Medical Centre, situated in Sit-tingbourne Kent. The practice was set up in1990.

Dr Bijan Saha is married to Dr Chhaya RaniSaha who too is a General Practitioner basedat their surgery in Kent. The couple have twosons, who both read medicine in the UnitedKingdom and are working as specialist reg-istrars in Rheumatology and Nephrology atthe Kings College Hospital in London.

Aside from his medical practice, Dr Saha en-gages in voluntary initiatives and other busi-ness ventures. He was until very recently theChairman of Dartford, Gravesend and Med-way division of the British Medical Associa-

tion. Moreover, he is a Fellow of the RoyalSociety of Medicine, Member of the RoyalCollege of Radiologist.

Dr Saha is a Director of United Airways PVE,Bangladesh.

On the altruistic front, Dr Saha runs a freehealth promotion clinic once a week. Theclinic focuses on hypertension and diabetesand is specifically catered for theBangladeshi community in London, particu-larly those who suffer from an inability tocommunicate in English.

Dr Saha is a very well respected doctorwithin the British Bangladeshi community. Dr Bijan Kumar Saha

SECTOR:Medicine

Dr. Mohammed Salam born in Dhaka andis married with three children. Dr. Salamgraduated from Dhaka University and ob-tained his Master Degree from the Univer-sity of Rajshahi. He studied at the Universityof Bradford and was conferred with a Doc-torate Degree, He also gained Membershipof British Institute of Management in UKand Associate Membership of Institute ofTraining & Development in UK. Dr. Salamhas had a distinguished career havingserved in British Local Government for 28years. He was the first Bangladeshi ap-pointed as a Principal Race Relations Adviserin UK.

During 1971 Liberation Movement ofBangladesh, Dr. Salam led the movement ofBangladeshi Students within the universitiesin UK. Dr. Salam has worked closely withLate Justice Abu Syed Chowdhury (ambas-sador-in-exile for Bangladesh and latter firstPresident of independent Bangladesh). Dr.Salam produced & published a weekly Muk-thi Joddhu newspaper called “Proloy” topropagate the cause of Bangladesh Libera-tion Movement in UK & Europe. Dr. Salamestablished Bangladesh Mission in Bradford.Following the independence of Bangladesh,

Dr. Salam formed a national organisationfor the Bangladeshi Community called“Federation of Bangladeshi Associations inUnited Kingdom and Europe” in 1972(FOBA). He remained as Secretary Generalof the Federation for about 12 years.

Dr. Salam was the Vice-chair of United King-dom Immigrants Advisory Service (UKIAS)1975 to 1988. He helped to set up UKIASoffices in Sylhet. Dr. Salam was the lead me-diator to resolve the conflict of British Gov-ernment & the Bangladesh Government atthe time of the introduction of DNA testingfor entry clearance for dependents.

Dr. Salam formed a charitable trust to helpand support the Sidr cyclone victims ofBangladesh. He is a Trustee & Director ofmany institutions at a local, national and in-ternational level. Moreover, he is a Justiceof the Peace for Bradford Bench and Chairof the Adult Court has been performingcivic duties on behalf of Her Majesty theQueen for the last 19 years.

Dr.MohammedSalam JP,

M.Sc, MBIM, AMITD

SECTOR:Local Government andCommunity Relations



Muhammed A. Sattar gained a degreewith honours from University of Chittagongin Bengali language and literature.Mr Sattar has worked within the field ofjournalism for over 23 years. He began hiscareer as a staff reporter for a local dailynewspaper in Sylhet, Bangladesh. Throughhard work and determination, he eventuallybecame the executive editor of this news-paper. From 1995 to 2000, Mr Sattar wasthe BBC’s Bengali radio service reporter(stringer) in Sylhet and also worked as theSylhet correspondent for the news agencyReuters. In 1996, Mr Sattar took part in aregional training programme in Kolkata,India that was run by the BBC.In recognition of his journalistic skills and ex-perience, Mr Sattar was elected vice-presi-dent and general secretary of the SylhetPress Club.

In 2000, Mr Sattar moved to the UK, andstarted to work for Bangla TV in London asthe station’s news editor. He stayed in thisrole until 2003, and then moved to the Vec-tone Bangla Television channel where hewas again the station’s news editor.Currently, Mr Sattar works as a special cor-respondent for the Janomot Bengali

newsweekly, the oldest Bengali newspaperin the UK. He also works part-time for theConsortium of Bengali Associations, a vol-untary based service in Camden, north Lon-don. In 2008, he was elected as the generalsecretary of the London Bangla Press Club.

Away from his professional life, Mr Sattarenjoys travelling, and has visited countriessuch as India, Pakistan, Turkey, Thailand,Japan, France and Germany. He also has akeen interest in community affairs, and en-joys assisting people in any way he can.

Muhammed A. Sattar


Mr. H. M. Shahjahan is an entrepreneur and di-rector of Film Asia, the prominent film makingcompany based in East London. He rose toprominence at a relatively young age of 39, andis a leading face of Bangladeshi businessmenbased in the UK.

Mr. Shahjahan, son of Late Alhaj Sazzad Ali andMrs Rasheda Khanom,was born in the village ofMohammadpur Shera, Jagonathpur Upazilla,(Sunamganj District) Bangladesh. He is the eldestchild of six children.Mr Shahjahan arrived in the United Kingdom in1984with his parents. He did his schooling fromMohammadpur Shera Primary School, Mirpurpublic high School in Bangladesh and GCSEfromHolloway School in London. After finishinghis education, first hewas involve in the cateringbusiness. But hewas passionate about filmmak-ing. His hobby was making home videos. Fromhis school age he was very good at arts.

Because of his dream and desire, he began anew career from home as a Videographer, thenhe built a team to form Film Asia.Film Asia the excels in film making, editing andcamera operating. It is more than just a filmcompany. They are a media production agencysetting the standard of film making across theUnited Kingdom.Film Asia mainly produces wedding films forAsian Brides and Grooms. They are known for

TV Commercials, Music Videos, Concerts, andTele-film. Films Asia produced a ghazal nightwith Alaur Rahman and the British BangladeshiWho’s who programme in 2009 & 2010.With brilliant editors, graphic designers, cine-matographers and event coordinators, thegroup has been a raving success in the film busi-ness of East London.The motto of Film Asia is simple; it is all aboutperfection, innovation and imagination. Special-ising in video production and photography, theartistic approach operated by Film Asia has metwith critical acclaim from the professional world.In Mr. Shahjahan’s words, ‘the overall messagewewish to convey is simple, we areworking foryou, with our expert skill and ability, our creationwill cater to whatever you desire, and we willdeliver’.Apart from his business, Mr. Shahjahan alsogives a significant time in charity work. He is theTreasurer of Probashi Gram Bangla UnnayanShongstha, a community organisation.He lives in LondonDocklandswith his family. Hiswife is Ruhena Begum. They have two sons andtwo daughters. The names of the daughters areMariyum Hussain and Nazia Hussain. The sonsare Farhath Hussain and Raahath Hussain.Mr.Shahjahan’s Creativity and dynamic visionhas earned him a respected position within themedia industry.

HM Shahajahan

SECTOR:Media



Abdul Shahid is an accountant by profession, practicing inhis own firm M M S Associates.He started as a Practice Manager in an Accountant & Au-ditors firm in East London, he responsibilities involved run-ning the office, supervising staff members, dealing andmaintaining overall client’s concerns. Shahid stands out inhis field as a strict and honest professional.

His creative intake of Bangladeshi food has led him to openGram Bangla which is now a household name in theBangladeshi community. There are very few caterers likeAbdul Shahid whose food in fact conjures up appetite forthe flavour of our own mouth-watering dishes within thecommunity. In this sense he is a pioneering restaurateurnourishing pure Bangladeshi taste.

Shahid is a well-healed person who always endeavours forthe positive perspective in life.

A proud father of four daughters Shahnaz, Khaleda, Fa-reedah and Yasmin, Abdul Shahid picked up his MBA degreein 2007. He Shares most of his spare time with the family-going out together, reading, watching telivision (in particu-lar, current and business affairs) tuning to music are acommon routine. Living in East London for Shahid when allis well done and comes the time to give credit, as it is saidthere is a woman behind every successful man. Andin Shahid’s case too is his beloved and devoted wife Raihana.

Sultan Shari is well known in the British Bangladeshi communityas an important contributor in the Liberation War of Bangladesh.He was born in village; Sharukali, Police Station; Katwali, inBarisal. He completed his ISC examination from BM College andBSc from Khulna, Daulatpur College. He studied Law in DhakaUniversity, but immigrated to the UK in 1963, beforethe final examination.He participated in the student movement in the 1960’s. Aftercoming to the UK, he was closely involved in the movement forthe realisation of the rights of the people of East Pakistan inUnited Pakistan. He was active in the warfields during the 9months of fighting in Bangladesh.Mr Shariff was president of the Pakistan Student Federation. Hewas a founder member of the Awami League in the UK and heldthe position of the first General Secretary of the London branch.He was a founder member of the Bangladesh Awami JuboLeague and a member of its first presidium.He was an active member of the Awami League Advisory Com-mittee in London. He is also The current president of the AwamiLeague UK.He is a founder and permanent member of the Bangladesh cen-tre, established in the early 80’s.As recognition of his pivotal role in the freedom struggle, theBangladesh Government awarded him with the freedomfighters medal. The Russell Smriti Parisad presented him with agold award for his contribution to the ongoing movement fordemocracy in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. Channel S honouredhim for his services to the community.He lives with his wife, Nora Shariff, in London.

Abdul Shahid

SECTOR:Accounting

SultanMahmudShari9




Reza Ahmed Faisal Choudhury Shoaib isthe son of late Alhaj Eklimur Reza Chowd-hury andMrs. Ambia BegumChoudhury wasborn in Patli village, Jagonathpur Upazilla(Sunamgonj District), he came to the UK in1990 along with his parents and siblings. Heis the 2nd eldest child of five children.

Faisol`s brothers and sister Reza Ahmed KobirChoudhury, Reza Ahmed Shafi Choudhury,Reza Ahmed Bakor Choudhury, ReziaChoudhury Nazmin also reside in the UK.Mr. Faisol Choudhury graduated with a B.A.honors from Bangladesh and completed hispostgraduate studies in the UK.

As a free thinking, ambitious young manwith a passion for progressive journalism herealized his dreams by producing his ownweekly Newspaper `Sylhet Katha` at the ten-der age of 22. Mr Faisol Choudhury hasbeen a columnist for a number of differentnewspapers including Surma, Jonomot,Notun Din (published from London, UK) andnational daily Amader Shomoy (publishedfrom Dhaka, Bangladesh). He continues towrite for Notun Din and Amader Shomoy.

Mr.Faisol Choudhury was the Founder Secre-tary of Desh Bikash in 1991, a voluntary cul-

tural organization, which allowed youngchildren from the London borough of TowerHamlets to become involved in various cul-tural activities. He dedicates his time volun-tarily to assisting those in need of help and,supports the British Bangladeshi youth todayin various ways.

Mr. Choudhury has had several occupationsthroughout the years.He was the Director of Media and Commu-nication for the most popular TV channel,Channel S in 2007 (established and broad-cast from UK).

He currently runs Channel I. In 2000 he mar-ried Dr Anwara Ali and they live with theironly son Obaid Reza Jaami Al- Choudhury.Reza Ahmed Faisal

Choudhury Shoaib

SECTOR:Media

Born in the village of Kadi Pur, South Surmain Sylhet, Wazid Hasan Shelim is one ofseven children. The son of Abdur Rahmanand Shomsun Nessa, he was brought up ina well known and highly respected family.

Shelim arrived in the United Kingdom in1986 and started his further educationwhere he successfully obtained a diploma inBusiness Studies. After finishing his educa-tion, he began working at the familyrestaurant. It was later in 1991 when he es-tablished his first business, ‘Apex Curry’.Four years later he established his secondand most successful business, to date. ‘Prideof Asia’, began life as a restaurant andquickly grew to specialise in catering forlarge events and ceremonies, includingweddings, corporate events and parties.The uniqueness of Pride of Asia, which setsit apart from competitors is the mastery ofseasoning and the ability to extract differentflavours from the extensive amount of sea-soning and spices they use.

Customers have always provided good feed-back after using the services of Pride of Asia.Pride of Asia’s has catered for many large or-ganisations including services to the Houseof Commons, Tower Hamlets

Council and BBCC, to name a few. Asidefrom his dedication to his business, Shelimis a passionate philanthropist and has alwaysdonated to schools, madrasas andhealth clinics both in Bangladesh as well ashere in the UK. He also continues to help thepoor and victims of disasters.

Furthermore, Shelim is involved with numer-ous community organisations.He is the Secretary of Jalal Pur Welfare Asso-ciation and a life member of London BanglaPress Club. Additionally, he is CorporateMember of BBCC.Shelim married in 1996 to Hamida Shepin.They have four children; one daughter andthree sons. His children are Shahida Akter,Rafe Ahmed, Shafi Ahmed and YaminAhmed.

Wazid Hasan Shelim is a well-establishedand familiar businessperson and member ofthe British Bangladeshi community, who al-ready boasts an extremely successful careerin the catering industry.

Wazid Hasan Shelim

SECTOR:Catering



Sheikh Sujat Miah is internationallyrenowned for his politics, social service andhard work to alleviate poverty. He is theelected MP in the last election held in 2011in Hobigunj 1.Mr. Miah was born in 1957 in Hobigunj tothe veteran social worker Al-Haj Abdul Jab-bar and Sheikh Amina Bibi Choudhury. Hecame to the UK in 1969 and passed his BScfrom the Loughborough College, England.He also underwent a training of hotel andcatering management, and health and se-curity matters.

At present Mr. Miah has a business in theUK worth £2.5 millions. He owns therenowned restaurant ‘Mughal-E-Ajam’which is the winner of many awards for ex-cellent service. The other businesses are Hi-malayas Tandoori Restaurant, KohinoorTandoori, Star of India, export-import or-ganisation Sheikh Enterprise and propertybusiness Rothvale Properties Limited. He hasdifferent businesses in Nobigunj, includingSharif Timber Merchant, Ashab MedicalStores Golden Plaza Shopping Centre.Mr Miah is also known for his charitable ac-tivities in Bangladesh. He contributed to thebuilding of Chargaon Primary School, Balla-

Dhaipur Kalasha Academy, mosque in theMirpur Girls High School, Narpur Madrasah.He was the convenor of Nottingham YouthCultural Society of Bangladesh and memberof the executive committee of NottinghamIslamic Centre. He is also the chairman ofNottinghamshire Bangladesh Cultural andWelfare Society, chair of the East Midlandregion of Bangladesh Caterers Association,chair of the Esat Midland region of GreaterSylhet Council and executive member of theDine Bangladeshi Campaign in UK.

Mr. Miah has been active in politics for along time. He has been serving as the BNPEast Midland President since 1981. He waselected as the MP from Nobigunj-Bahubolconstituency in 1996. He was reelected in2011. During his last tenure while theKhaleda Zia government was ruling thecountry, he was instrumental in managingtwo ambulances in the Nobigunj-BahubolHealth Complex.Mr Miah is married to Abeda Sultana. Theyhave three daughters and two sons.

Sheikh Sujat Miah

SECTOR:Politics

Cllr Tulip Siddiq spent her childhood inBangladesh, Brunei, India, Singapore andSpain. She moved to North London ten yearsago and completed her undergraduate andMaster’s degree in the U.K. She recently be-came the Councillor from Camden Council.She is doing a second Master’s in Politics,Policy and Government.

Tulip is the Labour Party council candidate inRegent’s Park ward. If she is elected, she willbe the first Bengali woman in Camdencouncil.

Tulip is BAME (Black Asian Minority Ethnic)Officer for Young Labour and Women’s Of-ficer for London Young Labour. She is on theexecutive board of her union (T&G: Unite)and a school governor at Beckford PrimarySchool.

She has worked for a variety of Labour politi-cians including Oona King and Sadiq Khan.She has also worked for Philip Gould Asso-ciates, Amnesty International and Save theChildren in the past.

She has campaigned for political parties in-ternationally and in 2008, she campaignedfor Barack Obama in the United States.

Tulip writes for her local newspaper – theHam and High- and is also a member of theCommonwealth Journalists Association (UK).

Tulip has her own blog where she writesabout both British and Bengali politics

Tulip Siddiq

SECTOR:Politics



Abul Kalam Azad Suton was born in 1959 in Dighal Bak,Nabigonj Bangladesh. His father is Al Hajj Mohammed BadshaMiah and mother is late Morthuza Khanam, He completedhis higher secondary education fromModhon Mohan Collegein Sylhet after which he graduated with a Degree from SylhetGovernment Degree College. Mr Abul Kalam Azad thenmoved to the UK in 1983.

After his arrival here in the UK Mr Azad started by writing indifferent Bangladeshi newspapers, such as Janomot, Surmaand Notun Din.He then became founder editor of ‘Sylheter Dak’, later resign-ing and setting up a news agency in the UK, called the BritishBangladesh News Agency and served as the Chairman of thisorganisation.

In 1984 he established his own business, a restaurant namedShapla Tandoori and later opened the Badsha Indian Cuisinein Kent. His restaurant empire grew rapidly and he openedAzad Bangladesh Cuisine in East Grinstead. Moreover in 1999he established the now renowned Britannia Spice in Edin-burgh. In the year 2007 Velvety Ginger was established byhim in Crawley.Mr Azad’s other business interests include being a Director ofDreamland Amusement Park in Sylhet, he is also a Director ofValley City in Sylhet, as well as ABC Land and also AbashonShopping complex, both located in Sylhet.

He is the founder and chairman of the Badsha Miah EducationKalayan Trust, a trust in place at Dighal Bak High School afterhis fathers name. He also funded the building of the ChandpurAlia Madrasa in Habiganj after his mothers name in 1999. Inaddition he is the founder and General Secretary of the UKNabigonj Development Association in 1988. Furthermore he isthe Press and Publication Secretary of Bangladesh Caterers As-sociation and President of the Kent region.

Mr Azad is married to Zaheda Akter (Lipi) two daughters andone son; Fouzia, Faizah and Abul Esfar. Abul Kalam AzadSuton has also managed to write a number of books in hisspare time. His most recent publication, launched in 2006 wastitled “Ekjon Kibria”.

MAltab (Syed), The Eldest son of Late Haji Md. Rajab Ali, Bornin Jalal Pur, Sunam Gonj, Bangladesh. Mr Altab came over tothe UK in 1977 where he continued with his education.

After completing a Diploma in business studies, Mr Altabquickly established himself as a successful entrepreneur, takingon various ventures in the form of catering outlets and cornersstores in North Wales. Currently, Mr. Altab is primarily focusingon his property development venture to diversify his portfolioof investments.

Over the years, Mr Altab has contributed greatly towards char-itable work and has been involved with numerous communityorganisations. He is one of the co founders and Vice Chairmanof Bangor Bangladesh Welfare Associations.

Through his personal and business contacts, the Bangor basedbusinessman has helped generate large donations for victimsof natural disasters and has contributed towards numerousdevelopments and educational projects in Bangladesh. He isan active member of the Federation of Small Businesses in ad-dition to his long term membership with the Bangor Businessforum. He was also elected as a Trustee for Bangor IslamicCentre. Mr M Altab (Syed) is one of the successful and recog-nised member of the British Bangladeshi community in Wales,he has invested an extensive amount of his time and efforts tothe Bangladeshi community here in the UK, especially in thearea he resides.

Mr Altab is married with six children who are in full time edu-cation. His ambitions in life to help others help themselves, ashe firmly believes that if you give a man a fish you feed him fora day and if you teach a man to fish you feed for a lifetime.

Abul Kalam AzadSuton

SECTOR:Catering andCommunityRelations

MAltab Syed

SECTOR:Business



Abu Taher MBE son of Late Md JamshedMiah, settled in Birmingham in 1978. MdAbu Taher MBE left Birmingham in 1993. Hisvision was to introduce ‘Balti’ to the peopleof Leicester.He wanted to provide good quality food inpleasant surroundings at a reasonable price.Ever since his childhood, Mr Taher had deepempathy for the people around him, his par-ents always encouraged and inspired him todo charitable work and to help others.

As a testament to his upbringing, he hasbeen involved with many voluntary organisa-tions. His motivation has always beenaround improving the quality of life for peo-ple in his community and helping those whoare less fortunate.

In 1993, with the combination of a successfulfirst year of trading and a commitment tohelp others, Taher held his first charity dinnerin aid of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal. It was sucha success that charity meals have happenedat his T & K Balti House every year since.

There have been fifteen charity dinners in aidof the Lord Mayor’s appeal. But that’s not all,Mr Taher has also held many other charitydinners to raise fund for Bangladesh Or-

phans, Bangladesh flood Appeal, the Tsunamifor south Asia and other emergencies andnatural disasters abroad.His active participation in the British politicshas built a strong bridge between theBangladeshi community and the ConservativeParty in Leicester. He has dedicated time toserve the community including assisting theless able with Benefits and Immigration is-sues. He is still instrumental in establishing anumber of Bangladeshi organisations in theUK and abroad. His commitments to thecommunity both geographically and ethni-cally are without question.

In recognition of the services and contribu-tion he made towards the local communityhe was made a Member of the British Em-pire (MBE) in 2003.

He is currently serving as the president of theBangladesh Development Trust UK, presi-dent G L R Traders association, as well asserving concurrently with other positions ofresponsibility in other organisations.

MohammedAbuTaher MBE


Sheik Tuahid was the first son of SheikAbdul Bari and Sheik Amina Khatun. Hehails from the village of Baushi, PO Doshgar,Bishawnath Village in the district of Sylhet.He first came to the UK in 1985.

His enthusiasm for education was obvious,as he decided to attend the Mathew BoltonCollege. There he studied electronic engi-neering for a year. His positive and encour-aging approach towards the Bangladeshicommunity was without a doubt noticeableand consequently it resulted in him becom-ing the General Secretary of BangladeshiSociety in Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshirefrom 1987-1990. In 1995, Mr Tuahid wasgiven the role of vice chairman and later,the role of General Secretary of“Onuprash” Jatio Kobi Shangaton, an or-ganization created with the aim to help theBangladeshi community.

Mr Tuahid founded and became the Chair-man of the Midland Press Club in 2005. Hedecided to take up the role of Editor ofBazaar Voice as he had a good backgroundin journalism. In addition, he was the editorof a Bengali magazine aimed at youngBangladeshis, named Paira. ‘Jodi Pere Ashe

Kobu’, a poetry book written by Mr Tuahid,was published in Bangladesh in 2006 andproved to thrive greatly.

At this moment in time, he is the managingeditor of the weekly Bangla Voice, the onlyBengali newspaper published in the Mid-lands. Also, he is a representative of theweekly Potrika and the weekly Bangla Mir-ror, two newspapers involved with theBritish Bangladeshi community.

Married to Lilma Choudhury, he and hiswife have three children named Sheik Hus-sain, Sheik Salman and Sheik Ferdus. Mr Tu-ahid lives with his wife and children inSolihull in the West Midlands. Sheik Tuahid

SECTOR:Media



Baroness Uddin was born in Bangladeshand brought up in England. She is wellrecognised as an advocate for social reformand equal rights.A formidable champion for women, LadyUddin was invited to the House of Lords in1998, for her contribution to the advance-ment of women and disability rights, be-stowing the title of the Rt. Hon.

Baroness Uddin of Bethnal Green. Shebegan her professional and political careerin the 70’s, in the East End, developing anumber of leading edge and well regardedservices and organisations, many of whichhave come to be accepted as benchmarkfor sustainable development and commu-nity engagement.

Baroness Uddin serves on the Select Com-mittee on European Affairs and havechaired a number of Government TaskForces, under the auspices of the PrimeMinister’s office, Home Office and the FCO.She continues to work with a number of in-ternational charitable and educationalcauses, and currently leading the nationalpilot Breaking the Cycle Project whichworks with families affected by substance

misuse. She is a board member of AutismSpeak UK, Honorary member of the Boardof Channel S Television and is a patron ofOrbis International, Student PartnershipWorldwide, Bethnal Green and Victoria ParkHousing Association, Women's HousingForum, Women's Aid, Brit-Bangla and TheDame Vera Lynn Trust.

Baroness Uddin has an honorary doctoratefrom Exeter University.

Baroness PolaManzila Uddin

SECTOR:Politics

Dr Ruab Uddin, is a modest educationalist andcommunity activist. He is the eldest son of MrAfiz Ali and Mrs. Joymal Khatun of Mamod pur(Jandor tupi, Pagla Bazar), Sunamganj,Bangladesh. After completing his secondary edu-cation at Sunamganj Government Jubilee HighSchool in 1980 and Higher Secondary educationat the prestigious Sylhet MC College, he arrivedin England in 1982. graduated from University ofManchester Institute of Science & Technology(UMIST) and pursued the post graduate degree ofDoctor of Philosophy in Composite & High Per-formance Polymer Chemistry at Manchester Uni-versity in 1992. Following on his success in thePhD project originally funded by Imperial Chemi-cal Industries (ICI), he was appointed as a researchassociate at ICI at Wilton Centre, Middlesbrough,Cleveland.He has a number of publications in science jour-nals. Ruab visited many European states & capitalcities to attend science seminars and symposiumsto represent his research team. His passion andstrong desire to work with the Bangladeshi com-munity had made him change his career from sci-ence research into the field of education. Later hejoined Tower Hamlets College as a lecturer andthen completed his PGCE at Huddersfield Univer-sity. At present Dr Ruab is teaching science withthe responsibly as the Key Stage 3 Science Co-or-dinator.During his college & university years he developedmany community organisations projects throughLEA & Urban grants to assist the Bangladeshicommunity. Ruab was one of the founders of

Mossley (Manchester) Bangladesh Welfare Centrewhich promoted the linguistic and socio-culturalactivities in 1980s and early 90s. His long commit-ments and affiliated work involves with many or-ganisations such as: Greater Sylhet Development& Welfare Council in UK (GSC); BangladeshiTeachers Association (BTA); Greater SunamganjWelfare Association; Dokshin Sunamganj UpozillaAssociation; Friends of Purbo Pagla High Schoolin UK; Dagenham Bangladesh Cultural Associa-tion to name but a few.Dr Ruab also works as a capacity building consult-ant where he facilitates seminars and training ses-sions in education, youth & social issues,community development and other related topics.He is a school governor of a primary school and atertiary college in Dagenham. He is an irregularwriter of Bangladeshi news papers and a guest oftalk shows of Bengali TV channels. He is a silentsupporter of Bongobondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rah-man & his political philosophy. He was the generalsecretary of Bangladesh Chatro League MC Col-lege Hostel branch; the founder general secretaryof Greater Manchester Jubo League and currentlythe joint secretary of All Europian BongobondhuPorishod.Dr Ruab is the eldest of four siblings (secondbrother Mohim Uddin, a caterer; third brotherSharif Uddin, a medical doctor and the youngestbrother Thaher Uddin, an accountant) who is mar-ried to Sofina Uddin and has two sons, Masum &Nasim and a daughter Shabnom. He with his fam-ily resides in Becontree in the Borough of Barkingand Dagenham.

Dr Ruab Uddin BSc(Hons), PhD, FETC, PGCE

SECTOR:Education and Community Rela-tions



Faruk Uddin is the owner of the reputedDilshad Restaurant, 1 Ashworth House,Cannock Road, Chadsmoor, Cannock. Hewas born in Koropara village near Biswanat,Sylhet in Bangladesh. His father was LateAbdul Latif and mother is Rufjan Bibi.He first arrived in the UK in 1971.Mr Faruk Uddin studied at Alumwell Com-prehensive School. He was a bright studentand secured three A’s in Mathematics, Eng-lish and Business Studies. But with an eyeto build an independent organization wherehe does not have to obey others, heshunned the path of what the conventionalgood students take. He rather took the rel-atively difficult path and started his ownbusiness in 1979.

His restaurant, Dilshad, soon became re-puted in the area as an authentic place totaste Indian curry. Today the business isflourishing and has become a role model tothe aspiring restaurateurs who want to ex-plore the unattended path of businessthrough giving the British people a scope toget acquainted with exotic Indian dishes. Healso is a property developer who has severalcommercial properties through Stafford-shire.

Apart from being a businessman, Mr FarukUddin is also known for his social work. Heis the treasurer of the Guild of Bangladesh.Mr Faruk Uddin is married to Asma Bibi. To-gether they are blessed with two sons Sha-heen Uddin and Hassan Uddin and threedaughters Nazma Begum, Shelyma Begumand Halima Begum. The family lives in Wal-sall, West Midlands.

This forty three year old modest and friendlyman is an avid follower of football and bad-minton

Faruk Uddin

SECTOR:Catering

One of the most successful Bangladeshibusinessmen living in Scotland, Edinburgh-based entrepreneur, Dr Wali Uddin MBE,was born in Moulvibazzar in 1952. Havingmoved to Edinburgh in 1975, Dr Uddinopened such award-winning restaurants asBritannia Spice, Verandah and Lancers. Bri-tannia Spice won Les Routiers Best New-comer in 2001 and was recognised as thebest curry restaurant in Scotland by bothBIBA and the Scottish Curry Awards (whichit won for three consecutive years). It is cur-rently the Irn Bru Restaurant of the Year.

A respected philanthropist who has raisedover half a million pounds for charities inBangladesh and Britain, Dr Uddin was ap-pointed JP in 1984 and Young Scot of theYear in 1992. In 1993 Wali was appointedthe first Honorary Consul-General ofBangladesh in Scotland and, in 1995, aMember of the British Empire for his servicesto race relations.

Dr Uddin was honored with a LifetimeAchievement Award at the Lloyds TSB AsianJewel Awards. Founding Director of the ac-claimed Edinburgh Mela, Dr Uddin is JointPresident of the EBF, Chairman of the Coun-cil of Bangladeshis in Scotland, a Director of

the Edinburgh and Leith Chambers of Com-merce and a key player in establishing theBanglaScot Foundation. He is the formerChairman and Director General of theBangladesh British Chamber of Commerceand has been awarded three honorary de-grees from Heriot-Watt, Queen Margaretand Napier Universities. Dr Uddin is a Direc-tor of the Council of the Foreign Chambersof Commerce in the UK and a foundermember and Director of Britain in Europe.He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Artsand was included in Debretts’ People ofToday and the Asian Power 100.

Wali Uddin is married to Syeda Akther andhas been blessed with five children. He be-lieves in determination, dedication, honestyand integrity.

Dr.Wali Tasar UddinMBE JPDBA FRSA

SECTOR:Catering and Communityrelations



Mr. Giash Uddin is the grandson of Mr. Mohamed Amroj Ali,the famous Awami league leader in Dakshin Surma. He wasborn in Mogla Bazar, Dakshin Surma, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Hehas completed his B.Sc (Hon) in Bangladesh and further stud-ied in International Business Management, at Amsterdamschool of Business.

After completing studies, he set up his own business in Am-sterdam. In 2005 he moved to the UK and set up a group ofrestaurants in Portsmouth and Southampton. He is also themember of the Caterers Association UK and is involved inlocal community activities.

Mr Uddin’s businesses have ever since been extremely success-ful. It can be said without a doubt that he has come far in lifeand done well due to his hard work, enthusiasm and determi-nation to thrive both as a businessman and an individual.

One of his more successful restaurants is situated inPortsmouth, known as the Rancho Steak House. This is anAmerican style diner and serves a variety o� oods. He believesmore people should invest into American style restaurants asit adds something unique to the Bangladeshi Community.

Mr Uddin is a great lover of charity as he contributes towardsBangladesh’s �ood crisis’ and general poverty. He has becomea successful businessman and lives in Portsmouth with hiswife Fahminara Akhter, and two children.

Mr Giash Uddin

SECTOR:Catering



Khondaker Forid Uddin is the current Chairman ofUnited Traders Limited. Born in 1941 in Golapgonj, Sylhetin Bangladesh and completed his primary education at thelocal school before coming to the UK in 1963.

Mr Uddin is a very successful businessman establishing aglass factory and a hotel in Bangladesh as well as playinga key role in the liberation movement. Mr Uddin carriedout numerous activities in Britain as well as the Europe insupport of the struggle for independence and to this daystill aids freedom fighters in the Golapgonj region.The work of charity is a fundamental element of MrUddin’s character.

He annually donates thousands of pounds to educationalinstitutes in Bangladesh in addition to helping the poor andhomeless in his area by constructing 50 houses with corru-gated iron sheet every year. Mr Uddin has also financiallysupported the construction of Noor Masjid & Madrashanamed after his late father Khondaker Abdul Noor and isalso a joint convenor of Bangladesh Flood Prevention In-ternational Committee UK.Besides Mr Uddin’s interest in the philanthropy depart-ment, he is actively involved in many sociocultural and wel-fare organisations.Currently he is the chief treasurer of Bangladesh CentralLondon as well as the President of the Golapgonj Upazillawelfare association UK. Mr Uddin is also a committee mem-ber of both the London and Manor Park Jame Masjid andthe Greater Sylhet Development and Welfare Council UK.

Furthermore, Mr Uddin is the Chairman of the GreaterLondon Caterer’s Association as well as serving as the Sen-ior Vice Chairman of Jatiya Party UK.

Mr Khondaker Forid Uddin is married to Khondaker SufiyaKhanam and have been blessed with three sons, Khon-daker Mohi Uddin, Khandaker Thaj Uddin and ZamalUddin. Investing in the Industrial sector in Bangladesh iscurrently high on Mr Uddins agenda as well as providingaccess to educational facilities for the disadvantaged

Moin Uddin is a renowned businessman and a loving and caringfamily man. Son of Alhaj Ahad Uddin, Mr Uddin was born in1966 in the village of Mathurapur of the number 4 DhigalbakUnion of Nabiganj, a sub district of Greater Sylhet. Though he isoriginally from Nabiganj, he resides permanently in Sadipur, Syl-het with his family.

Moin Uddin started his education in Dhigalbak Government Pri-mary School. He went on to further his education in DhigalbakHigh School, however, came to the UK with his family beforecompleting his due. On arriving in the UK, he joined LeedsRoundhy High School from where he obtained his GCSE’s (thenknown as GCE O- Levels). Mr Uddin then joined Kingston Collegeto study A-levels, from where he went on to run his own busi-ness.

At present he has several businesses predominantly in the Surreyarea. He is also the founder and owner of the Rose View Hotel.Rose View is the first five star rated hotel in Sylhet and also hasthe accolade of being the first five star rated hotel outside of thecapital Dhaka.

Mr Uddin married Salema Uddin in 1988. Mrs Uddin is thedaughter of Mokadas Ali of Ganganagar. The couple live in Sur-rey and are blessed with four children; two sons (Nasir andNaveed) and two daughters (Nasreen and Nafeesa). All of his chil-dren are currently in education.

Moin Uddin is also a dedicated community worker. He is thetrustee of Surrey Muslim Centre and is also involved with theBangladesh Caterers’ Association and Nabiganj Education Trustamong other associations.

KhondakerForid Uddin


Moin Uddin

SECTOR:Hospitality andCatering



Syed Monsur Uddin was a student atDhaka College back in 1989. In his schooldays, he had flairs toward journalism as oneof his uncles was a journalist who inspiredhim a lot.

Having finished his college studies, he gotenrolled at the Department of Political Sci-ence, University of Dhaka and started con-tributing to weekly Ekota and Daily BanglaBazar. He was the university reporter to boththe newspapers and was elected ExecutiveMember to Journalist’s Association of theUniversity. During the period, he regularlycontributed to other national dailies on is-sues related to politics, education and cul-ture. For a considerable period of time, hewas attached with the first phone-in pro-gramme of BTV– ‘Ovimot’- anchored by Md.Jahangir. The programme gave Monsurgreater exposure to social and natural reali-ties of Bangladesh.

After his Honours and Master degree in Po-litical Science from the University of Dhaka –he joined Bangla Bazar as Senior Reporter in1996. He used to look after Education bit.His reader thoroughly enjoyed his informa-tive pieces while his critics were always ap-prehensive.

Syed Monsur came down to England in1997 and joined the Bangla TV in 1999, asthe electronic media started its maiden jour-ney. He was with the News Room of BanglaTV and contributed greatly to its growth anddevelopment. After a year with the BanglaTV, he joined weekly Surma in 2000 as NewsEditor where he has been serving as the Edi-tor since 2006. He contributed greatly to thenewer look of the Surma that is widely recog-nised by his reader and colleagues. For a briefperiod, he was the founder News Editor of‘Bangla Express’ – a short-lived anotherweekly publication of Surma News Group.He is a member of London Bangla PressClub, was in the Executive Committee of theclub and founder member of BishwaShahitto Kendro- London.Throughout his academic life he was also in-volved progressive student politics.

Appreciated as ‘funny and lovely’ by his sonSadaf, Syed Monsur is from CharabhangaVillage of Madhabpur upazilla, Hobigonj. Hisfather is Syed Muhammed Idris and motheris Rafia Khatun Chowdhury. Along with hiswife Hadi Jannah and daughter Shompritee,they live in Chigwell, Essex. His hobbies in-clude reading, gardening, travelling andcooking.

SYEDMONSUR UDDIN

SECTOR:Media

Nobab Uddin wears many hats. He is theeditor of Janomot, Britain’s oldest Bengalinewsweekly, and also a Quantity Surveyorby profession. He was born in Shahbander(Fatehpur) Munshibari village in Moulav-ibazar district in Sylhet division ofBangladesh. He came to United Kingdom inJuly 1978.

Having completed his Building and Con-struction studies in Vauxhall College in Lon-don, he later obtained a BSc (Hons) degreein Quantity Surveying from South Bank Uni-versity, also obtaining a Diploma in Leader-ship and Management. Initially a QuantitySurveyor with Walter Jenkins Construction,he subsequently worked for London Bor-ough of Enfield; he later joined City of West-minster as its Technical Manager. In 1996 hemoved to RSL with Toynbee Housing asTechnical Services Manager. In October 2007he took over as Stock Investment Managerof One Housing Group, London.

He is a member of Chartered Institute ofHousing, The Guild of Builders and Contrac-tors, The Royal Institute of Chartered Survey-ors, The Institute of Leadership &Management (ILM), Society of Surveyors andNational Union of Journalist.

He is one of the founder members of theLondon Bangla Press Club and was the firstTreasurer of the club, which was formed in1993. During the late 90’s as managementof Janomot changed, Nobab Uddin tookover the responsibility of the Chief Executiveof the journal.

When the then editor of Janomot relin-quished his position in 1997, Nobab Uddintook over as editor, a position he still holds.From 1990 to 1994 he was the General Sec-retary of BWAG in Camden, London. Hewas involved in sports from an early age,where he represented his school and districtat a national level in both badminton andathletics.Because of his keen interest in During theearly eighties he decided to form a culturaland promotional organisation called, LinkPromotions, which has been staging playsand cultural shows since then in UK. Besideshis journalistic activities, since 1982 NobabUddin has written and successfully stagedseveral stage plays throughout the UK.

Nobab Uddin is the author of many plays,three books, and two more which are in theprocess of being published.He is married with two children.

Nobab Uddin

SECTOR:Media



In July 2009 Abdal was appointed as a NonExecutive Director of the Bart’s and The Lon-don NHS Trust Board.Abdal is the first British Bangladeshi Muslimto join the Council of Queen Mary Universityof London a former member of the EducationCommission of London Government.Political from an early age, graduated with adegree in Politics, chaired the Youth Parlia-ment, London assembly candidate in 2004,elected as councillor in 2006, short listed inWimbledon as a prospective parliamentarycandidate in 2007, all this at only 31.Abdal has extensive experience with a num-ber of London’s strategic bodies. He was amember of the Police Authority (MPA) for sixyears, he also chaired the City of London Po-lice Committee. He is currently a Trustee ofThames Water Trust and the Centre of theCell Ltd.Abdal was chosen by the Home Secretary tobe the convener of the Muslim youth taskgroup aftermath of 7/7 London Bombing.Abdal has represented the UK onmany inter-national delegations sponsored by the HomeOffice and the Foreign & Commonwealth Of-fice.Abdal was instrumental in securing the per-mission from the Mayor of London to stage

the first ever Eid celebration in TrafalgarSquare in 2006, also currently planning forthe Eid in the Park open air prayers event inTower Hamlets A councillor in Tower Hamletssince 2006, serving as a cabinet member inhis role as lead member for Cleaner SaferGreener, His vision and enthusiasm has at-tracted extensive media coverage.Abdal’s wife Ayesha Qureshi who worked forLondon 2012 was awarded the MBE in 2005for her service to London Olympic bid, she’san award wining international lawyer work-ing out of Dubai and London offices.

Abdal Ullah’s, own professional career expe-rience ranges from working for one of theUK’s top consulting firm, His other past expe-rience has been working in the health, educa-tion and community development sectors.Outside of work and politics, Abdal Ullah, re-cently became a father to a bay boy Adil, hasfounded the annual Safer NeighborhoodTournament Cupwith cash prizes and the ap-pearance of the FA cup, FA Charity Shield theBarclays Premier League trophy, he also pres-ents an annual TV show live on Channel S.He is the president of Stepney FC, the team issponsored by TATA a multi national Indiancompany.

Cllr. Abdal Ullah

SECTOR:Politics

Zafar was born in 1956 in Mirsarai, Chit-tagong, his father late Al-hajj Nurul AhmedChowdhury and Mother late Samona AfrozBegum. Zafar comes from a high respectablefamily he was a freedom fighter in 1971 Liber-ation Movement, his father was Chairman ofEast Pakistan Welfare Association and becamePresident of Bangladesh Action Committee inTeesside during 1971 Liberation Movementandworked tirelessly along with the then Pres-ident Abu Sayeed Chowdhury.

Zafar has two brothers Iqbal and Ashraf and asister Zesmin. Zafar is married to Polly who is aNursery Nurse, they have two children, Sheullygraduated in Permaculogy and Raihan com-pleted Masters in Human Resources.

Zafar graduated with BA (Hons) along withDiploma in Higher Education in Social Work atthe University of Sunderland. He also has PostQualification, Diploma in Practice Teaching,Diploma of Forensic Joint Investigation in ChildProtection at the University of Teesside and hasa Diploma of Acting in Drama and Film Tech-nique.Zafar has made significant contributions in So-ciety and held a number of important positions,including being a Chair of BangladeshWelfareAssociation, Vice-Chair of Islamic Association,Chair of Multi-Cultural Association, Vice-Chair

of Racial Equality Council and Law Society,Chair ofMela Association, Director of Commu-nity Venture, Chair of Park Community Coun-cil, School Governor, Member of RadioCleveland Advisory Council and many more.Currently, Zafar is serving as Justice of thePeace (JP), Chair of Park Labour Party, EthnicMinority Officer of Constituency Labour Party,Vice-Chair of Partnership ForumCluster Group,Director of Middlesbrough CAB and GeneralSecretary of Tees Valley Bangladeshi Associa-tion. Zafar is employed as Senior Practitionerwithin the Children’s Services, for 20 years.

In recognition of Zafar’s outstanding Contribu-tion in Society he was invited to a Receptionheld by his Royal Highness the Prince of Walesat St James’s Place in June 1997 to mark the50th anniversary of India, Pakistan, Bangladeshand Sri Lanka. Zafar was also invited alongwith wife Polly to a Reception held by The LordChancellor and the Speaker in the House ofLords in 1997.Zafar was a finalist in the category of the Com-munity Champion Award in Teesside 2006.Zafar is considerate, honest, determined tohelp, besides his full time employment, heworks tirelessly in voluntary sectors for the ben-efit of the community and general welfare ofthe people.

ZAFAR UDDIN – JP

SECTOR:Community Relations &Social Care



Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman, was the Mayor of Tower Ham-lets in 2010 and he has been an elected Labour Party Councillorsince 1998. Motin Uz- Zaman was elected as a Councillor inTower Hamlets for St. Mary’s Ward in 1998 and then subse-quently has been an elected Councillor in Mile End East Wardsince 2002. He is a well-known Councillor and a veteran politi-cian in Tower Hamlets Council, London.

He has served as a Cabinet Member overseeing many portfo-lios, which includes leading on Adult Health andWellbeing, En-vironment and Crime Reduction, Equalities and Social Inclusion.He has been involved in improving and instigating some of thehousing regeneration currently taking place in the Borough. Hehas served as a Board Director on East End Homes, PoplarHARCA, Tower Hamlets Community Housing, Cityside Regen-eration and Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust. His dedication,hard work and zeal has made him a very prominent politicianin Tower Hamlets. He was born in 1969 in Amria (Barobari) ofSunamgonj, and came to the UK with his late father, Md. IsaqChowdhury, and late mother, Sundor Bibi, in 1973.

Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman got involved in politics very youngin his pre-university days. He was the President of the BanglaSociety at Queen Mary College, London University. Later,whilst doing post graduation in St. Hugh’s College, Oxford Uni-versity, he became the General Secretary of the Graduate So-ciety (MCR).Councillor Uz-Zaman became a member of the Labour Party in1987. His primary attention has always been to improve thequality of life for people living and working in Tower Hamlets.Prior to becoming an elected member he has been instrumen-tal in developing the study support programme in the boroughand campaigned to ensure the borough had appropriate rep-resentation on school governing bodies, reflecting the schoolpopulation. He began working for school developments, andbecame the local governor of Stepney Green School in 1990.

He currently works for Barts and the London NHS Trust as Headof Patient and Public Engagement. As a dynamic leader, he isvery proud to have represented the people of Tower Hamletsand is indebted to them for this opportunity. He knows thatthere are many challenges ahead and we need to pull togetherto overcome these challenges.Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman is married to Nargis Bahar and fa-ther of a daughter (Proma) and three sons (Faiyaz, Abiyaz andRayyan).

Abssar Mohammed Waess was born in Boro-bari, Amria,Sunamgonj, Bangladesh in 1967.His father is late Alhaj Abdul Boshor Mashuk Miah, and hismother is Mrs Badrun Nessa.Mr Waess moved to the UK with his family in 1975. He com-pleted his education in Berkshire, before completing a HND inAerospace Engineering at North East Wales Institute of Tech-nology. He obtained a degree in Aeromechanical Engineeringfrom City University, London in 1991.

Mr Waess’ career began when he joined his family’s restaurantbusiness in 1991. He quickly made progress, and started hisown wholesale frozen food company – Eurasia Foods – whilestudying for his degree. He also set up a catering supplies com-pany called Lais Brothers Ltd.

In 1996, he opened The Blue Cobra restaurant in Reading.Eleven years later, Mr Waess took another pioneering step andopened Xen, also in Reading. Currently, Mr. Waess is investingand developing an industrial scale, aqua culture project,known as ‘Hail Hawor Project’, in Mowlovi Bazar, Bangladesh,with the view to cultivate fish, pack, and export to the over-seas market. He was one of the original founders of the Guildof Bangladeshi Restaurateurs.At present, Mr Waess is the Secretary of that organisation andalso the President of the Thames Valley Region branch.Recently, he helped to form the Ethnic Catering Alliance, an or-ganisation that links restaurateurs who offer Asian cuisine.

Mr Waess was a founder director of the Bangladesh BritishChamber of Commerce, and currently holds the position ofDeputy Director General. This organisation has helped to promotestrong business links between Bangladesh and EU countries.

He also helped to form the Bangladesh Association GreaterReading (BAGR) in 1993 of which he is the Vice President. Thisorganisation helped to raise funds to convert a church into amosque and community centre.Having shown to be dedicated to helping his community, MrWaess was appointed as the first ethnic trustee to the Berk-shire Community Foundation.Mr Waess is married to Jafrin Khan Waess, and is a father offour children; Imran, Samian, Labiba and Safwan.

CllrMotin-Uz-zaman

SECTOR:Politi

AbssarMohammedWaess

SECTOR:Catering



Ms Rekha Waheed is currently one of themost talented British Asian writers. Born inWest London, Ms Waheed became an in-stant success after releasing her debut novel,‘The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage’. Herdistinct style has been described as bridgingthe gap between old world traditions withnew world savvy. Ms Rekha Waheed secureda two book publishing deal with HeadlinePublishing Group. Her second novel 'DeshiGirl' is set to hit British bookshelves in theautumn 2009.

The publisher has also secured the sequel toMs Waheed's debut novel 'The A-Z Guide toArranged Marriage', which is scheduled tobe launched in the spring of 2010. RekhaWaheed is currently represented by MBA Lit-erary Agency. Ms Waheed completed herMSc in Economic Development at SOAS,University of London and during her timethere held the position of treasurer of the Is-lamic Society.

Whilst pursuing her passion for writing MsWaheed travelled the world as a CorporateConsultant. However, she soon caught theattention of a literary agent delivering publicreadings at the HarrowWriters club. She hassince released her debut novel and co-

founded Monsoon Press Publisher. ThroughMonsoon Press, she is also working with theArts Council and Penguin to raise the profileof British Ethnic and Muslim literature. MsRekha Waheed has previously sat on theboard of Women in Publishing and is an ac-tive promoter of improved literacy programsin the British Bengali Community. In addi-tion, Ms Waheed has worked voluntarily asa treasurer for a Bengali community organi-sation.

Ms Rekha Waheed is continuously generat-ing interest after reading at the London2006 and Spitalfield’s 2007 Literacy Event.Her unveiling of the intricacies of Brit-Asianexperiences for the mainstream in an adeptmanner has resulted in her being cited asone of Asiana’s Faces to Watch in 2006. Aregular guest for the BBC Asian network, MsWaheed consistently stresses the need for lit-erature that caters for diverse urban ethniccommunities that exposes the challenges ofBritish- Asian culture. Ms Rekha Waheed isset to become a familiar face

Ms RekhaWaheed

SECTOR:Arts

M K Zaman (Jewel) was born in 1970 inSrimongol, Bangladesh. His father was lateJalal Uddin Ahmed and mother was Mom-taj Jalal who is famous writer in Bangladesh.Mr. Zaman graduated in from Sylhet M CCollege and Mechanical Engineering fromSylhet Polytechnic Institute. He came to UKin May 1991.His first job was the post of sales executivefor R B Promotion Ltd, owned by Mrs Ro-mola Bachan. He spent eleven successfulyears with Shaw Wallace, Cobra Beer Ltdand Desh Wholesale Ltd delivering majormarketing assignments in the UK and Eu-rope. Through this years he gained vastknowledge of developing innovations andinternational marketing communicationplans. He has been the architect behind de-veloping products and strategy depart-ments in the marketing division.

Mr. Zaman joined Waterlily Property Ltd asa director in May 2009. He is also thefounder of Bangladesh catering Expo UK onwhich he is working for an exhibition in2011, and a director of Raj Pavilion Ltd.Mr. Zaman is happily married to Mrs SujlaZaman. They have five children, Miss NabillaZaman, Miss Anika Zaman, Mr Akif Zaman,

Miss Nayla Zaman and Master ZidaneZaman. The family live in Orpington, Kent.A versatile character with a broad region ofinterests, Mr. Zaman loves to listen toTagore’s songs in his pastime. He also likesbadminton and swimming.

MK Zaman (Jewel)

SECTOR:Business



Naufal Zamir is a successful entrepreneur,a dedicated businessman and a committedleader. He currently heads London-basedZamir Telecom, an enterprise he founded in2004 with just a laptop and a fax machine.From those humble beginnings, the com-pany boasted a turnover of £11.2M in 2010- a figure that Mr. Zamir is on track to nearlydouble in 2011.

Before Mr Zamir was managing a globalleader in telecommunications, he was agraduate of law from Dhaka University. Hearrived in the UK in 1999, where he came tocomplete his LLB at London University. In2003, he qualified as a Barrister-at-Law andwas called to the bar by the Honourable So-ciety of Lincoln’s Inn. At the time, he wasfollowing in the traditions of his family: hisfather, brother and sister are all legal profes-sionals. And although he secured a role as acriminal defence lawyer at a top city firm,his passion for entrepreneurship drove himto seek out a successful career outside ofthe family tradition.

Mr Zamir attributes the success of ZamirTelecom to the fact that his company has re-mained steadfast to the principles that itstarted with: to provide a simple, reliable,

affordable and, above all, honest service tocustomers. As Mr Zamir puts it, “The cus-tomer is king and my business is aboutbringing people closer.” Placing such a highvalue on the customer is what differentiatesZamir Telecom from its rivals - and the factthat more than 50% of the company’s cus-tomers are referrals from existing customersis testimony to that.

Mr Zamir has reinforced the organisationalstructure to ensure that the 50-strong work-force is diverse and has a blend of experi-ence and expertise in the field. This strategyhas helped Zamir Telecom to expand its UKmarket share whilst extending its expertiseto foreign markets across Europe, the Mid-dle East, USA and most recently into theAfrican territories of Kenya and Sudan.

In the constantly evolving world of telecom-munications, Zamir Telecom has remainedinnovative and creative, enabling it to ex-pand and develop its position in the marketplace. Successful services such as SimpleCallallowed the company to secure a substantialstake in the UK’s ethnic market, and nowMr Zamir is keen to establish Zamir Telecomto the wider consumer market.

Mr Zamir seeks the support of his peers andthe community to achieve these outcomesfor his business. The flagship SimpleCallLounge in East Ham is a brand-new, vibrantand exciting retail environment that housespersonal and corporate communication so-lutions under one roof, and lays the founda-

tion for other businesses under its umbrella,including Fast Track Money Transfer Service.

Outside of Zamir Telecom, Mr Zamir has aneye for success in many areas. His passionfor sports means he is Chairperson andsponsor of Scintilla Cricket Club, who havewon year-on-year promotion for the lastthree seasons. The club’s success meansthey will be playing in the Essex PremierLeague in 2012. As well, he plays bad-minton on a regular basis, and is only toopleased to support those who are able toleave all their worldly concerns aside whenthey are in any sports arena. A love of travelhas lead to a goal of driving from the UK toBangladesh.

A firm believer in continued personal devel-opment, he regularly attends seminars andcourses to enrich his business expertise. Hethen turns around and uses this acumen tocoach and nurture fellow entrepreneurs. Hisadvice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to nevergive up - especially in the trying start-upyears of a business. He urges entrepreneursto develop skills through a background thatstems from a quality education, wide workexperience and showing flair and leadershippotential.

Mr Zamir is married with two sons and liveswith his family in Britannia Village, West Sil-vertown in the Docklands.


MNaufal Zamir

SECTOR:Telecommunications



WHO’S WHO AWARD WINNERS 2009

WHO’S WHO AWARD WINNERS 2010

• Anwar Choudhury

• K.M. Abu Taher Choudhury

• Shelim Hussain MBE

• Mrs Shamim Azad

• Enam Ali MBE

• Ahmed Us Samad Chowhury

• Dr. Hasanat M. Husain MBE

• Muquim Ahmed

• Barrister Anis Rahman OBE JP

• Dr Mahfuzur Rahman

• Abdul GaAar Choudhury

• Miss Rushanara Ali MP

• Sapnara Khatun

• Dr.Wali Tasar Uddin MBE JP DBA FRSA

• Amin Ali

• Sir Fazle Hasan Abed


Bangla Mirror Group

Celebrating the best of the british bangladeshi community

JANOMOT Bengali Newsweekly

EVENT PARTNERS:

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

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AT PPANEVE

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Documents

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