Her aunt's regime 'disappeared' people - so why did Starmer make her a minister?

When Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem was abducted astatine nighttime by equipped men from his location successful Bangladesh, his four-year-old girl was excessively young to recognize what was happening.

"They were dragging maine away, I was barefoot," helium tells me, sobbing. "My youngest girl was moving down maine with my shoes saying 'take, father', arsenic if she thought I was going away."

He was held successful solitary confinement for 8 years, handcuffed and blindfolded, yet inactive doesn't cognize wherever oregon why.

The British-trained barrister, 40, is 1 of Bangladesh's alleged "disappeared". These were critics of Sheikh Hasina, the country's premier curate of much than 20 years, successful 2 terms, until she was deposed past August.

Hasina's authorities ruled implicit the worst unit Bangladesh has seen since its warfare of independency successful 1971 successful which hundreds were killed, including astatine slightest 90 radical portion she clung to powerfulness connected her past time successful office.

Controversial successful her ain right, Hasina is besides the aunt of Labour MP Tulip Siddiq - who resigned arsenic Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's anti-corruption curate past week aft a slew of corruption allegations that she denied.

These included claims Siddiq's household embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending successful Bangladesh - and that she utilized properties successful London linked to her aunt's allies.

The government's morals watchdog aboriginal recovered she did not interruption the ministerial code, but Siddiq resigned anyway.

That isn't needfully the extremity of the matter, though.

The occurrence raises troubling questions astir Starmer's judgement and Labour's attack to courting the votes of radical of Bangladeshi heritage.

Questions are present swirling implicit why Labour failed to spot this coming, fixed the enactment has agelong known astir Siddiq's links to her scandal-hit aunt. It was 2016 erstwhile Bin Quasem's lawsuit was archetypal raised with her.

He and others among Bangladesh's "disappeared" person represented an awkward hostility with Siddiq's publically voiced views connected quality rights successful the years since.

She agelong campaigned for the merchandise from Iran of her constituent Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, for example, portion showing an evident comparative indifference successful her nationalist statements connected the suffering and extrajudicial killings nether her aunt's authorities successful Bangladesh.

Siddiq has besides antecedently appeared alongside her aunt astatine a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin and appeared connected BBC tv arsenic a spokesperson for the Awami League, the governmental enactment Hasina has led since 1981.

Siddiq besides thanked Awami League members for helping her predetermination arsenic a Labour MP successful 2015. Two pages connected her website from 2008 and 2009 mounting retired her links to the enactment were aboriginal removed.

Yet erstwhile successful Parliament Siddiq told journalists that she had "no capableness oregon tendency to power authorities successful Bangladesh".

So these links weren't a secret, but possibly they weren't viewed arsenic a atrocious happening wrong Labour, not slightest since it has shown small motion of distancing itself from the Awami League successful caller years.

Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick told the Commons successful 2012 that they were "sister organisations", a warmth shared by galore of his colleagues.

And Starmer - who entered Parliament successful 2015 astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic Siddiq successful her neighbouring spot - has met Hasina aggregate times.

This included successful 2022 erstwhile the then-Bangladeshi PM was successful London for the Queen's funeral, a gathering that Bin Quasem calls "heartbreaking and shocking".

A Starmer state argues it is "perfectly legitimate" for him to person met Hasina, and it did not magnitude to an endorsement of her policies.

The evident attempts by Labour implicit the years to support Bangladesh connected broadside mightiness bespeak the governmental world present successful the UK, particularly successful parts of the superior city.

"You can't win successful eastbound London without knowing the Bangladeshi vote", 1 seasoned Labour campaigner explains.

However, those who neglect to admit the country's divided and volatile authorities tin extremity up offending those they are attempting to charm. "You request to cautiously equilibrium what you accidental and do," the campaigner says. "If you are excessively overt for 1 [Bangladeshi] party, you'll get criticised."

Analysis by the FT suggests determination are astatine slightest 17 UK constituencies wherever the voting-age Bangladeshi colonisation is larger than the Labour majority.

Starmer's Holborn and St Pancras constituency has astatine slightest 6,000 big residents of Bangladeshi origin.

Might this premix of warmth and governmental pragmatism person clouded Starmer's judgement from a imaginable corruption tempest connected the skyline when, soon aft winning the predetermination successful July, helium appointed Siddiq arsenic the Treasury curate responsible for starring Britain's anti-corruption efforts?

"Starmer has blindspots for his friends and governmental allies," says a Labour source. "It's not new."

Investigative writer David Bergman, who has been shedding airy connected Siddiq's connections to Bangladeshi authorities for a decade, points retired discourse is everything. "This was not a large communicative until Labour got into power, Tulip Siddiq became a curate and the Awami League authorities fell," helium says.

He argues idiosyncratic successful the enactment should person raised concerns galore years before. "There was archetypal a unsighted spot astir Tulip Siddiq's nonaccomplishment to respond to enforced disappearances successful Bangladesh," Bergman argues.

"Then determination was a unsighted spot astir however tied she was to the UK Awami League."

When I enactment this to 1 Labour MP, they responded that the UK media, arsenic good arsenic Labour, person had a Bangladesh unsighted spot.

"There are immoderate 600,000 radical successful the British Bangla diaspora", they say. "It is simply a state with the eighth largest colonisation connected Earth yet we've not heard a peep [from the UK media] since the events of 5 August."

The corruption investigations into Hasina are apt to rumble connected for immoderate time, perchance bringing further issues for Starmer's apical squad to code successful the months up portion Siddiq remains a Labour MP.

For Bin Quasem, the toppling of Hasina's regime saw him abruptly awoken successful his cell, bundled into a car and dumped successful a ditch, earlier yet being allowed to instrumentality location to his 2 daughters.

Toddlers erstwhile helium past saw them successful 2016, they are present young women. "I couldn't truly recognise them, and they couldn't recognise me," helium tells maine done tears.

"At times it's hard to tummy that I ne'er got to spot my daughters turn up.

"I missed the champion portion of life. I missed their childhood."