No letter received from UK MP Tulip, says Bangladesh Chief Advisor’s Press Secretary on her meeting with Yunus

Dhaka: The Bangladesh Chief Advisor’s Office has yet to receive the letter that former UK minister Tulip Siddiq sent, requesting a meeting with interim government head Muhammad Yunus.

“We have received no letter from her so far,” BD News quoted Chief Advisor’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam as saying on Sunday.

“We have been on Eid-ul-Azha holiday since June 5. We will depart for the United Kingdom at 7:30 pm on Monday. Since we have yet to receive the letter, there is no opportunity to comment on the matter,” the press secretary said.

British MP Siddiq, in the letter, has sought a meeting with Yunus in London to clear up a "misunderstanding" over corruption allegations against her.

In the June 4 letter to Yunus, Siddiq asked for an opportunity to discuss the ongoing controversy during the chief adviser's visit to London next week.

Yunus will meet King Charles and see Keir Starmer in Downing Street during his four-day visit to the UK from June 10-13.

Siddiq said she hopes a meeting might “help clear up the misunderstanding perpetuated by the anti-corruption committee in Dhaka that I have questions to answer about my mother’s sister, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina”.

“I am a UK citizen, born in London and representing the people of Hampstead and Highgate in parliament for the last decade. I have no property nor any business interests whatsoever in Bangladesh," she said.

“I have sought to clarify this to the ACC, but they refuse to engage with my lawyers in London and apparently keep sending correspondence to a random address in Dhaka,” she said.

Bangladesh's anti-corruption committee (ACC) claimed Hasina's niece, Siddiq, or her mother received a 7,200 sq ft plot of land through “abuse of power and influence”.

Siddiq has denied the allegations, with her lawyers describing them as “politically motivated” and without foundation.

She further claimed not to have been contacted by the authorities over any of the allegations, Prothom Alo reported.

She was cleared of any wrongdoing by the adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, but resigned as economic secretary to the Treasury and city minister over the “distraction” being caused for Keir Starmer’s new government.

Siddiq claimed she was being targeted by a “politically motivated smear campaign” orchestrated by Hasina's opponents.

The British MP is yet to receive any response to the letter from Yunus or his office, BD News quoted a source close to Tulip as saying.

According to the source, Tulip does not understand why the ACC is after her.

Her aunt Hasina is currently in India. In her absence, the interim government is moving forward with proceedings against her for crimes against humanity.

Last month, a warrant was issued in Bangladesh for Siddiq’s arrest.

She claims to have no knowledge of any such warrant or court hearings to which she was required to appear.

As a 2B extradition country, the UK requires ministers and judges to see clear evidence from Bangladesh before they make an arrest decision.

Arrest warrants have also been issued for Tulip’s mother, Rehana, and her siblings, all of whom deny the allegations.