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.

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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