List of British Bangladeshis

Part of a series on the
British Bangladeshis
History
History of Bangladeshis in Britain Brick Lane History of Asians in Britain
Statistics
Demographics of Bangladeshis Demographics of Asians
Languages
Sylheti · English · Bengali
Culture
Baishakhi Mela Culture of Bangladesh Channel S · Bangla TV Business
Religion
East London Mosque Brick Lane Mosque Islam in England
Notables
List of British Bangladeshis List of British Asian people

This is a list of notable British Bangladeshis.

Successful members from the community are recognized in the annual "British Bangladeshi Who's Who"^[1] and "BritBangla"^[2] for their significant community work, contribution and achievements in British society.

Contents 1 Business 2 Media 3 Journalism 4 Politics 5 Music 6 Drama 7 Arts 8 Education 9 Literature 10 Organisations 11 Sport 12 Other 13 See also 14 External links 15 References

Business

• Abdul Latif – Restauranteur known for his dish "Curry Hell".^[3]
• Enam Ali MBE – Restaurateur and founder of the British Curry Awards and Spice Business Magazine.^[4]
• Iqbal Ahmed OBE – Entrepreneur, chairman and chief executive of Seamark Group made his fortune in shrimp. The highest British Bangladeshi to feature on the Sunday Times Rich List (placed at number 511 in 2006).^[5]
• Iqbal Wahhab OBE – Entrepreneur, restaurateur, journalist, publisher, founded Tandoori Magazine, and founder of multi-award winning restaurant Cinnamon Club.^[6]
• Mohammad Ajman 'Tommy Miah' – Internationally renowned celebrity chef, award winning restaurateur,^[7][8] founder and promoter of the Indian Chef of the Year Competition.^[9]
• Muquim Ahmed – Entrepreneur, who became the first Bangladeshi millionaire at the age of 26,^[10] due to diversification in banking, travel, a chain of restaurants with the Cafe Naz group, publishing and property development.^[11]
• Nargis Ara – Pharmaceutical researcher. Best known for being a candidate on BBC reality television programme The Apprentice series two in 2006.
• Nizamuddin 'Leepu' Awila – Car engineer, and coachbuilder who converts rusty old cars into imitation supercars in a workshop on Discovery Channel reality television programme Bangla Bangers/Chop Shop: London Garage.^[12]
• Noorul Choudhury – Maths teacher at Reddish Vale Technology College,^[13] online recruitment consultant, property business owner, and a fabric technologist business.^[14] Best known for being a candidate on BBC reality television programme The Apprentice series five in 2009.^[14]
• Ragib Ali – Industrialist, pioneer tea-planter, educationalist, philanthropist, and banker.^[15]
• Shelim Hussain MBE – Entrepreneur, founder and Managing Director of Euro Foods (UK) Limited.^[16]
• Syed Ahmed – Entrepreneur, businessman, and television personality. Well known for being a candidate on BBC reality television programme The Apprentice series two in 2006.^[16]
• Taryn Khanam – Director and co-founder of BritBangla and a policy advisor for the Department of Health.^[17]
• Wali Tasar Uddin MBE – Entrepreneur, restauranteur, community leader, and chairman of the Bangladesh-British Chamber of Commerce.^[18][19]
• Waliur Rahman Bhuiyan OBE – Managing Director and Country Head of BOC Bangladesh Limited, one of the first British companies to invest in Bangladesh in the 1950s to produce and supply industrial and medical gases.^[20]

Media

• Abul Taher, Reporter at the Mail on Sunday newspaper, and formerly at the Sunday Times.

• Ajmal Masroor – Television presenter, politician, Imam,^[21] and UK Parliamentary candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow constituency representing Liberal Democrats in 2010 General Election.^[22] He is a television presenter on political and Islamic programmes on Islam Channel and Channel S,^[23]
• Jameela Jamil – Television presenter, and model. She has been a presenter of Channel 4's weekend daytime entertainment programme T4 since 2009.^[24]
• Kanak 'Konnie' Huq – Television presenter, best known for being the longest-serving female Blue Peter presenter.^[25]
• Lisa Aziz – News presenter, and journalist. Best known as the co-presenter of the Bristol based ITV South West nightly weekday news programme The West Country Tonight,^[26] one of the first Asian presenters to be seen on television.^[27][28] She won the Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy Best Television News Journalist Award.^[29][30]
• Nina Hossain – Journalist, newscaster, and sole presenter of ITV London's regional news programme London Tonight.^[31]
• Rizwan Hussain – Barrister, television presenter, philanthropist, international humanitarian worker, former Hindi music singer and producer. Very well known for TV presenting Islamic and charity shows on Channel S and Islam Channel, mainly known within the community.^[32]
• Tasmin Lucia Khan – Journalist, presenter, and producer.^[33] Best known for delivering BBC Three's nightly hourly 'World News' bulletins on in 60 Seconds,^[34][35] and presenting E24 on the rolling news channel BBC News.^[36] Currently delivers news bulletins and breaking stories on ITV breakfast television programme Daybreak.^[37]

Journalism

• Abdul Gaffar Choudhury – Author, journalist, and columnist for Bengali newspapers of Bangladesh. Best known for his lyric Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano -- which has become the main song commemorating the Language Movement.
• A. N. M. Serajur Rahman – Journalist, broadcaster, and Bangladeshi nationalist.^[38]
• Faisal Islam – Economics editor and correspondent for Channel 4 News. He was named Young Journalist of the Year at the Royal Society of Television awards 2006.^[39]
• Fareena Alam – Editor of British Muslim Magazine Q News.^[40] She was named Media Professional of the Year by Islamic Relief in 2005 and at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in 2006.^[41]
• Nurul Islam – Broadcast journalist, producer, and presenter best remembered for his work with the BBC World Service.^[42]
• Shamim Chowdhury – Television and print journalist for Al Jazeera English.^[17]

Politics

• Baroness Manzila 'Pola' Uddin – Labour Party life peer, community activist, and first Muslim and Asian to sit in the House of Lords.^[43]
• Cllr Lutfur Rahman – Community activist, local Independent politician, who became the first directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets in 2010 and the first Bangladeshi leader of the council.^[44]
• Cllr Muhammad Abdullah Salique – Labour Party member, Councillor for Bethnal Green North ward, Mayor of London Borough of Tower Hamlets for 2008/09 municipal year.^[45]
• Cllr Shiria Khatun – Short-listed mayoral Labour candidates in Tower Hamlets.^[46]
• Cllr Syeda Amina Khatun MBE – Labour Party councillor for Tipton Green in the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. She was the first Bangladeshi woman to be elected in the Midlands region in 1999.^[47]
• Cllr Tulip Siddiq – Labour Party councillor in Regent's Park and cabinet member for culture in Camden London Borough Council.^[48]
• Murad Qureshi – Labour Party politician, and Greater London Assembly Member.^[49]
• Rushanara Ali – First Bangladeshi and one of first three Muslim women to be elected as an Member of Parliament, for Bethnal Green and Bow Labour Party constituency.^[50]

Faizur Rahman Chowdhury MBE A known figure in Birmingham.

Music

• Boyan Uddin Chowdhury – Former lead guitarist of rock band The Zutons.^[50]
• Deedar Zaman – Rapper/MC, and former member of electronica band Asian Dub Foundation then known as Master D.^[51]
• Gouri Choudhury – Singer and music teacher.^[52]
• Farook Shamsher – Alternative dub/dance music DJ and producer. He received the Commitment to Scene award at the UK Asian Music Awards 2006.^[53]
• Jernade Miah – Singer, songwriter, signed to 2Point9 Records (Doh Point Nau). He won Best Newcomer at the UK Asian Music Awards 2011.^[54][55]
• Lucy Rahman – Singer.^[56]
• Muhammad Mumith Ahmed (Mumzy Stranger) – R&B and hip-hop singer-songwriter. The first musician of Bangladeshi origin to release a music single, called One More Dance.^[57] Also won Best Urban Act at the UK Asian Music Awards 2011.^[58]
• Nazeel Azami – Nasheed singer-songwriter signed to Awakening Records.^[59]
• Rowshanara Moni – Singer and actress.^[60]
• Saifullah 'Sam' Zaman – DJ and producer associated with the Asian Underground movement, recording as State of Bengal.^[61]
• Shahin Badar – Singer and songwriter best known for vocals on The Prodigy's single Smack My Bitch Up, which earned her a Double Platinum award.^[62]
• Suzana Ansar – Singer, actress, and television presenter based in the UK and Bangladesh. She released her debut band album Suzana Ansar with Khansar in 2009.^[63]
• Zoe Rahman – Jazz composer, and pianist. She won the Perrier Young Jazz Musician of the Year Award 1999.^[64]

Drama

• Afshan Azad – Actress best known for playing the role of Padma Patil in the Harry Potter film series.^[65]
• Bibhas Chakraborty – Theatre practitioner, actor, playwright, theatre director, theatre organiser. He received Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1989.^[66]
• Dino Shafeek – Actor, and comedian starred in several sitcoms during the 1970s and early 80s. He is best remembered for playing the role of Char Wallah Muhammed in It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Ali Nadim in Mind Your Language.^[67]
• Hannan Majid – Documentary filmmaker whose films have been exhibited at several international film festivals including Emirates, Cambridge, Durban, and Leeds^[68]
• Nazrin Choudhury – Screenwriter, and actress on drama serials.^[69] Her critically acclaimed radio play "Mixed Blood"^[70] won the Richard Imison Award 2006.
• Ruhul Amin – Film director who has made 13 films for the BBC and Channel 4 including 1986 TV feature film drama A Kind of English.^[71] Most of them are documentaries and experimental dramas.^[72]
• Sadik Ahmed – Film director, cinematographer, and writer. Wrote and directed international award-winning short film^[73] "Tanju Miah", which was official selected and the first Bangladeshi film in the Toronto, Sundance, and Amsterdam film festivals in 2007.^[74] Also directed critically acclaimed feature film The Last Thakur in 2007 which opened screenings at the London, Dubai, Mumbai, New York and other film festivals.
• Shefali Chowdhury – Actress best known for playing the role of Parvati Patil in the Harry Potter film series.^[75]
• Tanika Gupta MBE – Theatre playwright, and television script-writer. Her BBC2 screenplay Flight won an Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy Award in 1998. She won the Arts and Culture Award at the Asian Women Achievement Awards in 2003. Her play The Waiting Room staged by the Royal National Theatre won the John Whiting Award in 2000.^[76]

Arts

• Akram Khan MBE – Dancer, and choreographer.^[77] Received numerous awards including Outstanding Newcomer 2000, Best Modern Choreography 2002, and Outstanding Male or Female Artist (Modern) 2005 at the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards.^[78]
• Eenasul Fateh (Aladin) – Magician. Named International Magician of the Year in 1991, and winner of the 1997 Golden Turban Award from the Magic Academy of Bangalore, in India.^[78]
• Rezia Wahid MBE – Award-winning textile artist whose work has been exhibited both in the UK and abroad.^[79]
• Ruh al-Alam – Islamic artist, and founder of Islamic calligraphic artwork project Visual Dhikr.^[80][80]
• Runa Islam – Film and photography visual artist, nominated for the Turner Prize 2008.^[81][82]

Education

• Prof Andy Miah – Professor in Ethics & Emerging Technologies and Director of the Creative Futures Research Centre^[83] at the University of the West of Scotland.
• Prof Ghulam Sarwar – Director of the Muslim Educational Trust,^[84] and an internationally recognised writer on Islam in English, especially for writing and publishing the first English textbook, Islam: Beliefs and Teachings, for madrasah students in Britain, which is used worldwide in Religious Education classes, especially in British schools.^[84]
• Prof Tipu Zahed Aziz – Professor of neurosurgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, and lecturer at Magdalen College, Oxford and Imperial College London medical school.^[85] a biography from John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.^[85]

Literature

• Dr Ghulam Murshid – Author, scholar, and journalist. He's received numerous top literary awards from India and Bangladesh including the Bangla Academy award.^[86]
• Kia Abdullah – Novelist and journalist. She contributes to The Guardian newspaper^[87] and has written two novels: Life, Love and Assimilation^[88] and Child's Play.^[89]
• Mohammed Mahbub 'Ed' Husain – Writer of the book The Islamist on account of his experience for five years with the Hizb ut-Tahrir.^[90][91]
• Monica Ali – Author of Brick Lane a story based on a Bangladeshi woman.^[92]
• Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed – Author, lecturer, political scientist specialising in interdisciplinary security studies, and participant of the 9/11 Truth Movement.^[93]
• Rekha Waheed – Writer and novelist best known as the author of "The A-Z Guide To Arranged Marriage."^[94]
• Tahmima Anam - Author of A Golden Age which was the Best First Book winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.^[95]
• Shamim Azad – Bilingual poet, storyteller and writer.^[96]

Organisations

• Anwar Choudhury – The British High Commissioner for Bangladesh in 2004, the first non-white British person to be appointed in a senior diplomatic post. Currently the Director of Int ernational Institutions at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office^[97]
• Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin – Trustee (former Chairman) of Muslim Aid.^[98][98][99].^[100]
• Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari MBE FRSA – Physicist, educationalist, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain from 2006 until 2010, and chairman of the East London Mosque.^[101]
• Faria Alam – Former Football Association secretary.^[102] Appeared in Celebrity Big Brother (UK) 2006.^[103]
• Irene Khan – Consulting editor of Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star,^[104] Chancellor of University of Salford,^[105] and former Secretary General of Amnesty International; she is the first woman, Asian, and Muslim to hold the position;^[106] she won Sydney Peace Prize 2006.^[107]
• Mohammad Naseem – CEO of the Webshop and News (Bangladesh), and chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque Trust.
• Saleemul Huq – Scientist, and Senior Fellow in the Climate Change Group at the International Institute for Environment and Development. He was awarded the Burtoni Award in 2007 for his work on climate change adaptation.^[108]
• Sir Fazle Hasan Abed – Social worker, and founder and chairman of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee. He received the 1980 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.^[109]

Sport

• Anwar Uddin – Professional footballer who plays as a defender, currently Barnet F.C. captain.^[110]
• Jahid Sheikh Ahmed – Cricketer who played country cricket for essex as a right-handed lower order batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler.^[111]
• Shahed Ahmed – Former professional footballer who played as a striker.^[112]

Other

• Dr Humayra Abedin – National Health Service Doctor of Medicine who became a cause celebre after her parents tried to force her into marriage and held her captive until she was freed by court order.^[113][114]
• Ruhal Ahmed – Former Guantanamo Bay detainee depicted in the film The Road to Guantanamo.^[115][116]
• Shabina Begum – Was involved in the leading House of Lords case UKHL 15 R (Begum) v Governors of Denbigh High School (2006) on the legal regulation of religious symbols and dress under the Human Rights Act 1998.

See also

• British Bangladeshi
• History of Bangladeshis in the United Kingdom
• List of Bangladeshi people
• List of Bengalis
• List of Bangladesh-related topics

External links

• British Bangladeshi Who's Who 2010
• British Bangladeshi Who's Who 2009
• BritBangla
• Banglalink - Who`s Who - NRB in UK

References