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British Urban Affairs Minister Tulip Siddiq has been named in a second investigation by Bangladesh authorities as she fights calls from charities to resign from her anti-corruption mandate.
Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission claimed that Siddiq tried to pressure his aunt, the country’s former leader Sheikh Hasina, into allocating plots of land in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone to the mother and his two siblings from Siddiq.
Investigators alleged that Sheikh Hasina, while in office, used senior officials of Dhaka’s development authority, RAJUK, to allocate about an acre of land to her and her two children in as part of the new town of Purbachal project, in the capital.
“When she became conscious. . . while a member of the British Parliament, Ms. Tulip Siddiq allegedly used her special influence and authority to pressure and influence her aunt, Ms. Sheikh Hasina, to arrange similar allowances in the same project, for her mother, Ms. Rehana Siddique. , his sister, Ms Azmina Siddique, and his brother, Mr Radwan Mujib Siddique,” the ACC said in a report released on Monday outlining the allegations. The report alleges that Sheikh Rehana was allocated land in 2022.
The investigation is separate from an earlier probe into allegations that Siddiq and several other members of his family benefited from a $12 billion deal between the Bangladesh government and Russia for a nuclear power plant. The family has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Siddiq has been a Labor MP since 2015 and is a close ally of British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Last week, Siddiq referred to Sir Laurie Magnus, the government’s independent adviser on ministerial standards.
“Tulip has self-inquired with the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards to independently establish the facts on these matters,” a spokesperson for Siddiq said on Tuesday. “She is clear that she did nothing wrong.”
Downing Street said on Tuesday that Magnus would report “shortly”.
Sheikh Rehana – Sheikh Hasina’s only living brother and a key political figure in the deposed administration – Radwan Mujib Siddique and Azmina Siddique could not immediately be reached for comment. Sheikh Hasina and her children, Sajeeb Wazed and Saima Wazed, could also not immediately be contacted.
Sheikh Hasina’s regime was toppled last summer following a student-led protest that was initially violently suppressed by security forces, leading to the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
Bangladesh’s former leader last month denied ordering security forces to use lethal force against protesters and said the allegations against her were “false propaganda”.
His son Sajeeb Wazed last month rejected the investigation into the nuclear plant, telling Reuters it was “not possible to siphon billions from a $10 billion project.”[the nuclear deal]. . . none of us have ever seen that kind of money.”
Siddiq has faced calls from Britain’s opposition Conservative Party to resign from his Treasury post, while anti-corruption charities have said his current role is untenable.
Britain’s Anti-Corruption Coalition – which includes groups such as Oxfam, Transparency International and Spotlight on Corruption – said in a statement on Monday that Siddiq should hand over responsibilities for tackling economic crime, money laundering and illicit financing to another government minister.
Siddiq currently faces a “serious conflict of interest” due to his direct family ties to a deposed regime, which British authorities could investigate, the coalition said.
“The UK has a historic responsibility to support Bangladesh’s new interim government, ensure a democratic transition and recover stolen assets, not least because some of these assets may be hidden within the UK itself,” added the coalition.
Starmer’s spokesman said on Monday that the Prime Minister retained “full confidence” in Siddiq.
