Harunur Rashid (Chapai Nawabganj politician)

Harunur Rashid (born 1 January 1962)[1] is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician and the incumbent Jatiya Sangsad member from the Chapai Nawabganj-3 constituency since January 2019.

For other people with the same name, see Haroon Rashid (disambiguation).

Harunur Rashid
হারুনুর রশীদ
Portrait of Harunur Rashid
Member of the Bangladesh Parliament
for Chapai Nawabganj-3
In office
30 January 2019 – 8 February 2023
Preceded byAbdul Odud
Succeeded byAbdul Odud
In office
15 February 1996 – 1 October 2006
Preceded byLatifur Rahman
Succeeded byAbdul Odud
Personal details
Born (1962-01-01) 1 January 1962
Chapai Nawabganj, East Pakistan, Pakistan
NationalityBangladeshi
Political partyBangladesh Nationalist Party
SpouseSyeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia

Career

Rashid was elected to Jatiya Sangsad from Chapai Nawabganj-3 in the June 1996 Bangladeshi general election as a candidate of Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[2] He had received 77,929 votes while his nearest rival, Latifur Rahman of Awami League, had received 47,048 votes.[2]

Rashid was re-elected to the same position in the 2001 Bangladeshi general election.[2] He had received 85,489 votes while the same rival, Latifur Rahman of Awami League, had received 60,460 votes.[2]

Rashid contested the 2008 Bangladeshi general election from Chapai Nawabganj-3 as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party candidate but lost to Abdul Odud of Awami League.[3] He received 76,178 votes while the winner received 112,753 votes.[3] Latifur Rahman of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami also campaigned against him.[4]

In November 2011, Rashid participated in a human chain protesting erosion at the Chapainawabganj Press Club.[5]

Rashid boycotted the 2014 election as per decision of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Abdul Odud of Awami League was elected to parliament uncontested from Chapai Nawabganj-3.[6]

Rashid was elected to parliament from Chapai Nawabganj-3 as a Bangladesh Nationalist Party candidate on 30 December 2018.[7][8] He had received 133,661 votes while Abdul Odul of Awami League and his nearest rival received 85,938 votes.[9] He took the oath of office 90 days after the mandated time following instructions of Tarique Rahman.[10] The four Bangladesh Nationalist Party members of parliament initially refused to join parliament as they had deemed the election unfair.[10]

Rashid in parliament asked the speaker to create a committee to investigate the large number of cases filed against Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians.[11]

Charges and convictions

Assistant director Monayem Hossain of the Anti-Corruption Commission filed a case against Rashid for tax fraud in March 2007 with Tejgaon police station and then pressed charge in July.[12][13] Rashid had imported a Hummer H2 on 25 April 2005 without paying tax as per his privilege as a member of parliament but later sold the to Ishtiak Sadek, violating the rules of the duty free facility, who sold it to Enayetur Rahman Bappi.[14][15][16] The car, imported under duty free privilege, cannot be sold under less than years of being purchased.[15] Rapid Action Battalion-2, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Akbar Hossain, had spotted the Hummer in Panthapath and asked the men to come to their camp where they were detained.[17]

In October 2019, Judge Shaikh Nazmul Alam of the Dhaka court sentenced Rashid to five years’ imprisonment for dodging taxes while importing a luxurious car in 2007 and fined him five million taka.[12] It also sent his co-accused former managing director of NTV and Channel 9, Enayetur Rahman Bappi, to two years imprisonment.[12][14] His other co-accused proprietor of Sky Autos, Ishtiak Sadek, sentenced to jail for three years.[12] A week later, the High Court granted him six months’ bail in the case.[18]

Justices Obaidul Hassan and AKM Zahirul Huq asked the government to explain why Rashid's parliamentary membership should not be canceled due to his conviction.[19][20]

On 9 December 2021, Justice Md Selim of Bangladesh High court upheld the verdict in the tax evasion case against Rashid after hearing his appeal.[21] The High Court commuted his sentence to time served.[22]

Personal life

Rashid is married to Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia.[23]

References
  1. "Constituency 45_11th_En". www.parliament.gov.bd. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  2. "Parliament Election Result of 1991,1996,2001Bangladesh Election Information and Statistics". 2008-12-29. Archived from the original on 2008-12-29. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  3. "Bangladesh Parliament Election - Detail Results - Amar Desh Online". 2018-02-26. Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  4. "BNP, Jamaat both stake claim to C'nawabganj-3". archive.thedailystar.net. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  5. "Erosion victims form human chain in C'nawabganj demanding dikes". archive.thedailystar.net. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  6. Ahmed, Taib (15 December 2013). "AL closer to majority before voting". New Age. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  7. "BNP's five winners". Dhaka Tribune. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  8. "Another four BNP leaders take oath as MPs, Fakhrul opts out". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  9. "Chapainawabganj-3 - Constituency detail of Bangladesh General Election 2018". The Daily Star. 2018-11-25. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  10. Staff Correspondent (2019-04-30). "It was Tarique's decision". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  11. "Form House committee on 'ghost cases': Harun". The Daily Star. 2019-06-26. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  12. "BNP MP gets 5yrs in jail for dodging taxes". The Daily Star. 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  13. "HC upholds MP Harun's 5-year jail term". Risingbd Online Bangla News Portal. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  14. Staff Correspondent. "HC commutes BNP lawmaker Harunur Rashid's jail sentence in tax evasion case". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  15. "HC scraps BNP lawmaker Harun's appeal against graft case conviction". RTV Online. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  16. "Graft, Arms Cases". archive.thedailystar.net. The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  17. "Case of MPs Abusing Duty-free Car Import". archive.thedailystar.net. The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  18. "BNP MP Harun gets bail". The Daily Star. 2019-10-28. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  19. Bss, Dhaka (2020-09-03). "HC issues rule for cancelling BNP MP Harunor Rashid's JS membership". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  20. Staff Correspondent (2020-08-19). "Why Harun still an MP?". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  21. "HC upholds BNP MP Harun's 5-yr jail". bangladeshpost.net. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  22. Report, Star Digital (2021-12-09). "HC commutes jail sentence of BNP MP Harunur Rashid, 2 others". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  23. "Now BNP's Papia seeks plot from govt". Daily Sun. 26 August 2019.
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