Mirza Abbas
{{Short description|Bangladeshi politician (born 1951)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{infobox officeholder
| name = Mirza Abbas
| native_name = মির্জা আব্বাস
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Mirza Abbas.jpg
| caption = Abbas in 2020
| office = Minister of Housing and Public Works
| primeminister = Khaleda Zia
| successor = Dhiraj Kumar Nath
| predecessor = Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury
| term_start = 10 October 2001
| term_end = 29 October 2006
| office1 = Member of Parliament
| constituency3 = Dhaka-6
| term_start3 = 20 March 1991
| term_end3 = 30 March 1996
| predecessor3 = Abdur Rahim{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-4th-parliament-members-bangla |title=List of 4th parliament members |website=Bangladesh Parliament}}
| successor3 = Saber Hossain Chowdhury{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/current-mp-s/list-of-7th-parliament-members-bangla# |title=List of 7th parliament members |website=Bangladesh Parliament}}
| constituency2 = Dhaka-6
| term_start2 = 1 October 2001
| term_end2 = 28 October 2006
| predecessor2 = Saber Hossain Chowdhury
| successor2 = Mizanur Rahman Khan
| office4 = 5th Mayor of Dhaka
| president4 =
| predecessor4 = Abul Hasnat
| term_start4 = 13 December 1990
| term_end4 = 11 March 1994
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|2|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = Kishoreganj, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan
| alma_mater = Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College
| nationality = Bangladeshi
| occupation = Politician
| children = Mirza Arafat Abbas
| party = Bangladesh Nationalist Party
| successor1 =
| successor4 = Mohammad Hanif
}}
Mirza Abbas Uddin Ahmed ({{langx|bn|মির্জা আব্বাস উদ্দিন আহমেদ}}; born 7 February 1951) is a politician of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and a member of the national standing committee of the party. He was the Mayor of Dhaka City Corporation from 1990 to 1994. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dhaka-6 from 2001 to 2006 and Minister of Housing and Public Works in Khaleda's cabinet.
Early life and career
Abbas was born on 7 February 1951 in Kishoreganj, East Bengal to high school Master Abdur Razzak and Kamla Khatun. He had his schooling in the local educational institutions in Kishoreganj. Later, he got admitted to the Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College in 1966 and earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1972 in which he passed with 2nd division.{{cite web|url=http://123.49.39.5/asset2013/pdfs/2_4_1889_21158_5.pdf|title=Affidavit of Mirza Abbas|publisher=Election Commission|date=2008-09-08|accessdate=2015-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064711/http://123.49.39.5/asset2013/pdfs/2_4_1889_21158_5.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}
After obtaining his degree from Suhrawardy College, he started collecting extortion money from local businesses and also earned money from cattle markets lease.{{cite web|url=http://dhakabankltd.com/mr-mirza-abbas-uddin-ahmed/|title=Mr. Mirza Abbas Uddin Ahmed|publisher=Dhaka Bank Limited|date=|access-date=7 April 2015}} He is the founder of Dhaka Bank Limited. He was officially introduced to the board of the bank as an alternate director in November 1995. He was appointed director of the bank on 29 March 2012.
Political career
Abbas is among those leaders who started their political career with the emergence of Bangladesh Nationalist Party and worked with President Ziaur Rahman.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
Abbas was appointed as the mayor of Dhaka City Corporation in 1991. He served at that position until December 1993.{{cite web|url=http://www.dncc.gov.bd/mayor-administrator/roll-of-honer.html|title=Moudud, Roll of Honor|publisher=Dhaka North City Corporation|date=8 September 2009|access-date=7 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403130517/http://www.dncc.gov.bd/mayor-administrator/roll-of-honer.html|archive-date=2015-04-03|url-status=dead}} Later, in the election of 2001, Mirza Abbas was elected as a member of parliament from capital Dhaka. He was appointed as the Minister of Housing and Public Works. Mirza Abbas, as a minister, time and again focused on the strict enforcement of Wetland Protection Act to ensure environmental balance and flooding. The Ministry of Housing and Public Works under his able leadership amended the Building Construction Rules that was finally enacted in December 2006.
Under his auspices, the Ministry also formulated Private Housing Land Development Rules, a guideline to streamline real estate developers particularly involved in filling up thousands of acres of wetland and flood flow zones. In The 5th National Council of Bangladesh Nationalist Party of 2009, he was selected as a national standing committee member of the party for his contribution towards the party.{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/city/bnp%E2%80%99s-mirza-abbas-joins-mayoral-race-74097|title=BNP's Mirza Abbas joins mayoral race|work=The Daily Star|date=2015-03-26|accessdate=2015-04-07}} He was later given the responsibility of the convener of party's Dhaka city unit in 2014. In 2015, he collected his nomination form to contest as a mayoral candidate from Dhaka South City Corporation.{{cite news|url=http://en.prothom-alo.com/opinion/news/51837/The-people-are-suffocated|title=The people are suffocated: Mirza Abbas|work=Prothom Alo|date=11 August 2014|accessdate=7 April 2015}}
=Charges and convictions=
On 25 February 2007, Abbas was arrested when he went to submit his wealth statement to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). He was among the first list of 50 graft suspects.{{Cite web|date=2008-05-12|title=Mirza Abbas gets 8yrs for tax offences|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-36152|access-date=2020-09-15|website=The Daily Star|language=en}}
On 15 July 2007, ACC filed a case against Abbas, former BNP MP Ali Asgar Lobi and Mahfuzul Islam, a government official. The case accused them of illegally allotting an industrial plot in Tejgaon Industrial Area for Pacific Chemicals Ltd, a company owned by Lobi in 2006.{{Cite web|date=2016-03-30|title=Graft case: HC clears way for trial of Mirza Abbas|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/graft-case-hc-clears-way-trial-mirza-abbas-1201762|access-date=2020-09-15|website=The Daily Star|language=en}}
On 12 May 2008, Abbas was sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment on charges of invading tax upon his income for during 1990–2007 and also, furnishing false information in the tax returns.
On 6 March 2014, ACC filed a graft cast against Abbas over corruption in plot allocation among journalists when he was the housing and public works minister.{{Cite web|date=2016-04-04|title=BNP's Mirza Abbas freed on bail|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/city/bnps-mirza-abbas-freed-bail-1204000|access-date=2020-09-15|website=The Daily Star|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2016-10-20|title=Graft: Mirza Abbas indicted, trial Jan 1|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/graft-mirza-abbas-indicted-trial-jan-1-1301554|access-date=2020-09-15|website=The Daily Star|language=en}} After a Supreme Court ruling, he was released on bail from jail in April 2016.{{Cite web|date=2016-03-09|title=Mirza Abbas free to walk out of jail|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/mirza-abbas-free-walk-out-jail-788635|access-date=2020-09-15|website=The Daily Star|language=en}} In 2025, he was acquitted by the court in these cases.{{cite news |title=Mirza Abbas acquitted of corruption charges in asset concealment case |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/court/356524/mirza-abbas-acquitted-of-corruption-charges-in |access-date=3 June 2025 |work=Dhaka Tribune |date=29 August 2024 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Mirza Abbas acquitted in another graft case |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/mirza-abbas-acquitted-another-graft-case-3689641 |access-date=3 June 2025 |work=The Daily Star |date=29 August 2024 |language=en}}
On 6 January 2016, after the surrender, Abbas was jailed in connection with two violence cases. The cases were filed in December 2014 and January 2015.{{Cite web|date=2016-01-06|title=Abbas lands in jail after surrender|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/abbas-lands-jail-after-surrender-197785|access-date=2020-09-15|website=The Daily Star|language=en}} In 2024, he was freed from jail.{{cite news |title=Mirza Abbas walks out of jail |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/court/mirza-abbas-gets-bail-all-11-cases-filed-over-28-oct-violence-no-bar-release-795450 |access-date=3 June 2025 |work=The Business Standard |date=19 February 2024 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Mirza Abbas free to walk from jail |url=https://www.banglanews24.com/english/politics/news/bd/139543.details |access-date=3 June 2025 |work=banglanews24.com |date=19 February 2024 |language=bn}}
Personal life
Abbas is married to Afroza Abbas, the president of Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal, a wing of the BNP.{{Cite web|date=2019-01-23|title=Freeze Tk 21cr property of Afroza Abbas|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/news/freeze-tk-21cr-property-afroza-abbas-1691560|access-date=2020-09-15|website=The Daily Star|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2007-09-03|title=Wife of Mirza Abbas jailed for 16yrs|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-2462|access-date=2020-09-15|website=The Daily Star|language=en}}
Social service
Abbas established the Mirza Abbas Mohila Degree College for the betterment of women education in his locality. He donated to SEID Trust, a school for autistic children.{{cite news|url=https://thedailynewnation.com/news/17596/mirza-abbas-uddin-ahmed-founder-and-director-of-dhaka-bank-limited-inaugurating-the-19th-anniversary-programme-of-the-bank-at-its-head-office-on-saturday-on-the-same-occasion-the-bank-donated-tk-12-lac-to-seid-trust-a-school-for-autistic-children.html|title=Mirza Abbas donates SEID|work=The New Nation|date=2014-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222848/https://thedailynewnation.com/news/17596/mirza-abbas-uddin-ahmed-founder-and-director-of-dhaka-bank-limited-inaugurating-the-19th-anniversary-programme-of-the-bank-at-its-head-office-on-saturday-on-the-same-occasion-the-bank-donated-tk-12-lac-to-seid-trust-a-school-for-autistic-children.html |accessdate=2015-04-07|archive-date=3 March 2016 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
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{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbas, Mirza}}
Category:People from Kishoreganj District
Category:Politicians from Dhaka Division
Category:University of Dhaka alumni
Category:Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians
Category:5th Jatiya Sangsad members
Category:6th Jatiya Sangsad members
Category:8th Jatiya Sangsad members
Category:Ministers of housing and public works of Bangladesh