Keir Starmer met the person who was expelled from Awami League last month

Sir Keir Starmer met with a senior member of the exiled Bangladeshi party last month, even as the Awami League faces accusations of extortion and allowing its security forces to kill protesters.

The UK prime minister met Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury, the sacked mayor of Sylhet and a leading figure in the party, at a Labor dinner at Glasgow’s Crowne Plaza hotel in December. The pair were photographed speaking at a black tie party for Labor supporters.

The coalition was the culmination of decades of bridge-building between the Awami League and Labor that helped the UK party win key parliamentary seats and mediate with the British Bangladeshi community.

However, corruption charges brought against some members of Bangladesh’s former ruling family have already come under fire. City Minister Tulip Siddiq is under pressure from Starmerand raised questions about the wisdom of the longstanding relationship between the two parties.

The Awami League – led by Siddiq’s aunt Sheikh Hasina – ruled the South Asian country for 16 years before that. to be found student-led protests last summer.

Hundreds of people in Bangladesh were killed this summer when police and supporters of Sheikh Hasina clashed with protesters. Government-aligned forces were accused of using excessive force against civilians, including shooting people with guns.

Siddiq was named in an investigation last month by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission amid allegations that his family embezzled $5bn from a nuclear power plant project. The family denies all allegations of wrongdoing.

Earlier this week Siddiq also spoke to the government’s regulator after the Financial Times revealed that he had been given £195,000 of property in King’s Cross in London by someone linked to the Awami League.

Social media reports reveal that Labor has grown closer to the Awami League over the years, including accepting endorsements from elected politicians in Bangladesh.

Starmer was pictured accepting a donation check for Labor from someone with Awami League links, while he and Sadiq Khan, the Labor mayor of London, were photographed meeting dignitaries, including Chowdhury.

Khan wrote on Facebook that it was a “true honor” to meet Chowdhury last May, after he received an endorsement from him ahead of the capital’s mayoral election. During the meeting, Chowdhury said he has been campaigning for Khan for more than a decade.

Chowdhury did not respond to a request for comment.

The relationship also helped Labor reach out to the British Bangladeshi community ahead of the general election. An FT analysis of election data suggests there were at least 17 parliamentary seats where the number of Bangladeshis was greater than the number won by Labor last July.

Starmer’s seat of Holborn and St Pancras – which he won by a majority of around 11,000 last summer – has a population of more than 6,000 of voting age of Bangladeshi origin.

Awami League supporters campaigned across the country for Labor in last year’s general election, appearing at events in Lancashire and Greater Manchester and accompanying Siddiq on campaign tours, according to media reports. the public and people with knowledge of the events.

A Labor official told the FT that the “infiltration” was prompted by an association between Siddiq and his ruling family in Bangladesh.

His grandfather, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, helped lead the country to independence from Pakistan in 1971 before being assassinated four years later along with most of his family. Only Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, and his aunt survived.

“The Siddiq family is the Kennedys of Bangladeshi politics,” the official said.

Sheikh Hasina, who is seeking a fourth term in office in 2023 amid allegations of election fraud, has long been seen as a secular force against Islamist politics in the region. But the government was accused of withdrawing funds from the country’s banks, and using detention without charge to silence the opposition.

Bangladesh’s International Criminal Court on Monday issued arrest warrants for Sheikh Hasina and 11 of her top officials for their alleged role in the disappearance.

Chris Hopkins, director of political research at pollster Savanta, said that Labor relies more on diaspora votes than its political opponents – forcing it to form alliances to reach certain communities.

“It may not make sense in the Westminster bubble, but it will be the mindset of this nation and rightly or wrongly Labor will be guilty of the association,” Hopkins added.

The main organization Labor Friends of Bangladesh – founded in 2005 but still closely associated with the Awami League – has played a prominent role in coordinating Labor’s campaign efforts.

“A few years ago (Bangladesh Workers’ Friends) was used a lot to develop the Awami League,” said Ohid Ahmed, a former member of political foe Bangladesh Nationalist Party, who founded the original group but he retired in 2010. “I think that no one came from the other side or believed in other political parties. . . he was even able to go to their meetings.”

Howard Dawber, chairman of Bangladeshi Workers’ Friends since 2010 and deputy mayor of London, said the organization has supporters from all parties and has “worked hard not to be drawn into Bangladeshi politics”. He added: “It’s a tightrope to walk.”

Now, Labour’s use of the Awami League party as a means of reaching the minority community may have to change.

“Since time immemorial, the workers understood that Awami League was a good vehicle to get votes, but even so many things have changed as it has the wrong impression that it still needs public support. ,” said Ashraf Hoque, an associate professor of sociology at the University. London.

Also the diminished status of the Awami League, which treats British and Bangladeshi voters as one group has produced useless reports about the nation, he added. “It’s a dysfunctional aspect of Labor politics.”

Labor said: “The UK and Bangladesh have long-standing ties in areas of interest such as trade and security. It is right for politicians to meet with others from around the world, as MPs do. from all parties have done so. Again, this does not warrant their policies.”

Additional reporting by Oliver Hawkins