Why Did Keir Starmer Appoint Hasina's Niece, Tulip, as a Minister Despite Multiple Allegations?

Staff Correspondent :    |    ০৭:৫৫ পিএম, ২০২৫-০১-২১

Mir Ahmed Bin Kasem, a barrister trained in the UK, is one of the individuals who went'missing during Sheikh Hasina's regime in Bangladesh. Armed men abducted him one night, and he was held in captivity without trial for eight years. During this period, he was bound hand and foot and had no knowledge of where he was kept or why he was detained. After the fall of Hasina's government, Ahmed Bin Kasem was dumped in a car and thrown into a ditch, later returning home. In August last year, Sheikh Hasina was deposed in a student uprising after ruling as Prime Minister for multiple consecutive terms.

Bangladesh has witnessed the most violence under Hasina's rule since 1971, with hundreds of people losing their lives. Even on her final days in power, at least 90 people were killed. Hasina is the maternal aunt of Tulip Siddiq, a Member of Parliament (MP) from the ruling Labour Party in the UK. Recently, Tulip resigned from her position as Minister for Anti-Corruption under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, following multiple corruption allegations.

Tulip has consistently denied all these allegations. One of them is that her family embezzled up to £3.9 billion from the construction of Bangladesh's infrastructure. Additionally, there are accusations that Tulip misused property belonging to Hasina's political associates in London. Investigations by Starmer’s government concluded that Tulip did not violate the ministerial code of conduct. However, she was still forced to resign.

This situation raises troubling questions about Starmer’s judgment and the Labour Party's stance toward attracting the Bangladeshi-origin vote. One key question is why, despite knowing about Tulip's long-standing connections to her aunt Hasina, the Labour Party failed to anticipate these issues sooner. The disappearance of Ahmed Bin Kasem, for example, was reported back in 2016, while Hasina was still in power. The Labour Party should have raised concerns about Tulip long before this event.

There are also inconsistencies in Tulip’s public positions on human rights, particularly regarding enforced disappearances. For instance, she campaigned for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen, yet remained silent on the extrajudicial killings and suffering under her aunt’s rule in Bangladesh. Tulip even attended meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin alongside Hasina and appeared on BBC Television as a spokesperson for the Awami League.

Tulip was elected as an MP in 2015, and at the time, she thanked Awami League members for their support. She had openly described her political connections with the Awami League on her website in 2008–2009, though these details were later removed. Eventually, Tulip told the press that she had no desire or capacity to influence Bangladeshi politics.

Her connection to the Awami League was never hidden, but perhaps the Labour Party did not view it as a significant issue. Over recent years, the Labour Party has largely maintained a distance from the Awami League, though some former MPs, like Jim Fitzpatrick, referred to them as "affiliate organizations." In 2015, Starmer was elected from the seat next to Tulip in Parliament, and the two met multiple times, including in 2022. However, a close associate of Starmer explained that this meeting was not an endorsement of Hasina's policies.

A Labour Party leader once remarked that to succeed in East London, one must understand the Bangladeshi vote. However, he cautioned that one must maintain a careful balance between words and actions, as overt displays of support for Bangladeshi political figures can lead to criticism.

According to the Financial Times, there are over 6,000 Bangladeshi-origin voters in Starmer's Holborn and St. Pancras constituencies, which is a larger number than the margin by which Labour won in several other constituencies. After winning the election in July, Starmer appointed Tulip as the leader of the UK's anti-corruption efforts. It raises the question: Did the Labour Party's sympathies towards the Awami League and the political realities of London overshadow Starmer’s judgment regarding the potential storm of corruption allegations?

An anonymous source within the Labour Party explained that Starmer’s loyalty to his friends and political allies is not new. Investigative journalist David Bergman pointed out that the Labour Party should have raised concerns about Tulip much earlier, especially regarding her failure to respond to the enforced disappearances in Bangladesh. Moreover, the issue of her ties to the Awami League should have been addressed sooner. When asked, some Labour MPs admitted that there is a significant gap in knowledge within the party and British media regarding Bangladesh.

As a result, whether Tulip will continue as an MP in the coming months could become a topic of serious discussion among Starmer’s senior officials.