Lutfozzaman Babar

Lutfozzaman Babar
Babar
State Minister of Home Affairs,
Government of Bangladesh
In office
10 October 2001 – 29 October 2006
President Iajuddin Ahmed
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia
Preceded by Mohammed Nasim
Succeeded by Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj
Personal details
Born Netrokona, Bangladesh
Political party Bangladesh Nationalist Party
Occupation Politician

Lutfozzaman Babar is a Bangladeshi politician who served as a minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh under Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, as a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Early life

Babar is from Netrokona and studied till grade 10. He was born into a well off family. As a young man he began smuggling, his specialty was smuggling Casio branded watches in bulk in the 1980s during the term of President Hussain Muhammad Ershad.[1]

Career

Babar was elected to parliament twice from Netrokona-4 constituency during 1991-1996 and 2001-2006. He joined the Central Committee of Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1996. In 2001, after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party came to power he was appointed as the State Minister for Home Affairs.[1] He was one of the youngest members of the Bangladesh Cabinet during the tenure of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.[2] He was perceived to be a "simpleton" for speaking in mixed English and Bangla.[1] He was a close associate of Taruqe Rahman and BNP headquarters in Hawa Bhaban. He was involved in a number of corruption including land grabbing and tender manipulations. He was important supporter of the formation of Rapid Action Battalion.[1][3]

Babar helped Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami organise the 2004 Dhaka grenade attack which was an assassination attempt on then opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina. After the attack he helped HUJI militant Moulana Tajuddin escape to Pakistan.[4] He was one of the accused in the case filed over the 2004 Dhaka grenade attack.[5] After the 2005 Netrokona bombing, he blamed a Hindu man killed in the attacked and called him a Hindu militant. After evidence that he was not involved emerged, Babar rescinded his accusation.[6][7][8] In 2005, he chaired a conference of Islamic scholars where they denounced terrorism in the name of Islam and endorsed the BNP led government's fight against it.[9]

After the Caretaker government came to power in 2007 he was arrested,[10] and on 30 October 2007 a Dhaka court sentenced him to 27 years in jail on an arms case regarding firearms recovered from his home in Gulshan.[11] He lost his division status that came from being a former minister in jail after he was caught twice in possession of contraband cellphones.[12] On 16 September 2008 he was released from prison on bail.[13] In December 2008 he was expelled from BNP after contesting the 9th parliamentary election in 2008 as an independent candidate.[14] In December 2009 BNP withdrew the expulsion order against him and reinstated him in the party.[11] After in the 2009 National Elections, Babar was jailed on charges of corruption and for direct involvement in the Arms Deal of Chittagong.[15][16] Babar when he was the Home Minister had asked Bangladesh Police not to arrest agents of the National Security Intelligence involved in the chittagong arms smuggling case.[17] Alleged to have evaded taxes,[18] he was later also charged with the murder of former Finance Minister Shah A M S Kibria of Awami League during the latter's rule since 2009.[19] On 30 January 2014 he was sentenced to death for his role in the 10 truck arms deal in Chittagong.

A Bangladeshi court sentenced 19 people to death on Wednesday(10-Oct-2018) over a deadly 2004 attack at a political rally held by current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The grenade attack killed two dozen people and wounded about 300 others. Hasina narrowly escaped, having been whisked away by party members to a waiting car from a dais in front of the headquarters of her Awami League party near where several grenades exploded.

Judge Shahed Nuruddin delivered the verdicts — interrupted twice by power cuts — at the court in Dhaka for 49 defendants facing multiple charges stemming from the attack.

Nuruddin said the attack was intended to eliminate the Awami League's leadership, including Hasina.

Lutfuzzaman Babar, one of two former Cabinet ministers among the 19 condemned to death, told reporters after the verdict that he was innocent. "God knows everything. I was not behind it," he said.

[20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "From Casio to arms". The Daily Star. 2014-01-30. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  2. ↑ "Bangladesh: Babar & his magic stick". Asian Tribune. 2006-06-15. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  3. ↑ "Business of Babar unknown". The Daily Star. 2008-12-26. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  4. ↑ "Babar, Salam helped Huji execute plot". The Daily Star. 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  5. ↑ "'Jamaat, BNP colluded with militants' to carry out grenade attack on Awami League rally". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  6. ↑ "Netrokona blast: Who's suicide bomber?". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "Babar takes U-turn to term Yadav innocent". archive.thedailystar.net. The Daily Star. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  8. ↑ Das, Bishawjit. "Yadav was coaxed to go to the spot". archive.thedailystar.net. The Daily Star. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  9. ↑ "Islam doesn't allow militancy: alems at seminar". BDNews24.com. BDNews24.com. 3 December 2005. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Former Bangladesh minister jailed". 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  11. 1 2 "BNP takes Babar back". The Daily Star. 2009-12-19. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  12. ↑ "Babar stripped of division status in jail". The Daily Star. 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  13. ↑ "Sheikh Selim, Abbas, Babar granted bail". The Daily Star. 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  14. ↑ "Babar expelled from BNP". The Daily Star. 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  15. ↑ India, Nerve - News and Analysis of. "Ex-Bangladesh minister denied bail in Chittagong arms haul : International". www.nerve.in. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  16. ↑ "Babar now accused". The Daily Star. 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  17. ↑ "Babar asked police not to nab NSI men". The Daily Star. 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  18. ↑ The Daily Star (Bangladesh), Charge framing hearing against Babar on Apr 11 March 11, 2010
  19. ↑ "Kibria murder: Suspended Sylhet mayor Ariful gets bail". The Daily Star. 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  20. ↑ "Babar released on parole to attend mother's janaza". The Daily Star. 2016-07-12. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
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