Shamsher M. Chowdhury

Shamsher M. Chowdhury Bir Bikrom is a Bangladeshi diplomat and served as the foreign secretary from October 2001 to March 2005. He also served as the ambassador of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka, Germany, Vietnam, and the United States.

Early life Chowdhury was born on 1 May 1950 in Chittagong, East Pakistan, Pakistan. His parents were Abdul Mubeen Chowdhury and Tahmeed-un-Nahar. His paternal home is in Sylhet District. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Pakistan Military Academy and was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1969. He served in the 1st East Bengal Regiment in Jessore and the 8th East Bengal Regiment in Chittagong during his career with the Pakistan Army. He was wounded and taken prisoner on 11 April and freed after the surrender of Pakistan on 16 December. From 1991 to 1995, he was the high commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka.

In 2015, Chowdhury resigned from the post of vice-chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He joined Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh, led by AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, in 2018. He was nominated to contest the 2018 general election from Sylhet-6 as a candidate of Bikalpa Dhara, which was in an alliance with the Awami League. He quit the election after the Awami League-led grand alliance nominated Nurul Islam Nahid.

In September 2023, Chowdhury became chairman of Trinomool BNP, founded by Nazmul Huda, in September 2023. He led the Trinomool BNP into participating in the 2024 general election. He, and all the candidates of his party including Taimur Alam Khandaker lost in the election. Chowdhury came third with 10,000 votes while Nurul Islam Nahid of the Awami League won the election with 57,758 votes.

Chowdhury was prevented from leaving Bangladesh on 17 October 2024 after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government. He was supposed to fly to Thailand for medical treatment. According to the police, he was arrested in a case filed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on 14 September over an attack on their office on 28 October 2023 and taken to the headquarters of the Detective Branch. Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Omar Faruq Faruqi opposed his bail, calling him a "turncoat" for leaving the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.