Among the several ministers who took oath, along with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Tarique Rahman, on Tuesday, is a leader from the Hindu community, Nitai Roy Chowdhury. The veteran Hindu leader is one of the 25 Cabinet ministers in Rahman’s ministry. The portfolios haven’t been allotted yet.
Nitai Roy Chowdhury, a vocal critic of the Awami League, blamed the Sheikh Hasina-led party for most communal violence in Bangladesh in a 2023 interview with the India Today Group.
In the February 12 election to the Jatiya Sangsad (Bangladesh Parliament), Roy Chowdhury was elected as an MP from Magura-2 on a BNP ticket. He won by a big margin, defeating the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate.
A senior BNP leader, Nitai Roy Chowdhury, is also a lawyer. He is also a Vice Chairman of the BNP’s Central Committee, which is one of the top leadership positions in the party. It is known for shaping strategy and advising senior leadership of the party.
Other than the Hindu politician, Tarique Rahman also has a Buddhist Chakma leader in his ministry.
Minorities have faced persecution and attacks in Bangladesh, with the percentage of Hindus in Bangladesh’s population dipping from 28% in 1947 to 13.5% in 1971 to 7.95% in 2022.
WHO IS NITAI ROY CHOWDHURY WHO SERVED IN ERSHAD GOVT AS WELL?
Roy Chowdhury was born in Magura District, in 1949. He completed his early studies at Magura Government College. He then attended the University of Dhaka, where he perused law. It was at Dhaka University that Roy Chowdhury cut his teeth in politics.
In 1988, he was elected to the Jatiya Sangsad (Bangladesh Parliament) from Magura-2 constituency. He also served as Minister of Youth and Sports for around three months from September 1990 in Hussain Muhammad Ershad’s government.
After the fall of the Ershad regime, he joined the BNP and became its Vice Chairman.
Nitai Roy Chowdhury was married to Jhuma and they have three children.
Their daughter, Nipun Roy Chowdhury, is an active BNP politician and executive committee member. She had earlier served in the BNP’s leadership at the district level. Nipun is married into another renowned BNP family. She is the wife of Amitav Roy, the son of senior BNP leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy.
Gyaneshwar Roy also won the February 12 election on a BNP ticket.
Nitai’s son, Debasish Roy Chowdhury, serves as a judge in the High Court of Bangladesh. His other son is Mithun.
BNP’s NITAI ROY CHOWDHURY AN OUTSPOKEN CRITIC OF AWAMI LEAGUE
Nitai Roy Chowdhury is known as an outspoken critic of the previous Awami League government headed by Sheikh Hasina.
He criticised the Sheikh Hasina government for creating a “fascist regime” that compromised the judiciary and misused state power, according to a BBC report. He claimed that “millions of cases” were filed against BNP members during the Hasina regime and called it a “political crackdown”.
In a 2023 interview with the India Today Group, Nitai Row Chowdhury underlined that China’s financing of various projects in the name of loans or grants in Bangladesh was neither good for the Hasina government nor for India.
“Countries that help economically underdeveloped or developing countries aim to gain political hegemony. China is lending to Bangladesh to expand its market. Hasina government accepts it and says it is developing. But the basis of this development is foreign debt,” he explained.
Roy Chowdhury claimed that there were “isolated attacks” on Hindus when the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami combine came to power in Bangladesh in 2001.
“By doing a case study, you will see that Sheikh Hasina’s party Awami League is involved in all the communal violence that has happened in the country. Awami League is the biggest enemy of Hindus,” he claimed.
He also spoke about the BNP’s stand on India.
“Bangladesh is at the belly of India. That is why India wants the well-being of Bangladesh in its interest. BNP understands this,” he said, adding, “BNP realises that the relationship should go deeper.”
Nitai Roy Chowdhury presents a very different face of the BNP from what is known in India. His inclusion in the Tarique Rahman ministry could be a signal to the minorities in Bangladesh.
(With inputs from Meenal Sharma)
