Ushwe Sing

Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing is an Awami League politician. He is from Bandarban district and was elected as a member of parliament from Bandarban constituency for the 7th time in the 12th parliamentary election. He served as the minister of Chittagong Hill Tracts affairs from 2019 to 2024 and State Minister from 2014 to 2019. Following the fall of the Awami League government after the July uprising in 2024 and the dissolution of parliament by President Mohammad Shahabuddin, he lost his parliamentary seat.

Early life Sing passed the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination from Bandarban Government High School in 1976 and later completed his Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) from Bandarban Government College. In 1983, he obtained a master’s degree in political science from the University of Rajshahi.

He was first elected as a member of the Bandarban Hill District Local Government Council in 1979. He was first elected as a member of the Bandarban Hill District Local Government Council in 1979. He was subsequently elected as a Member of Parliament seven times between 1991 and 2024. In 1997, prior to the signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, he served as a member of the dialogue committee related to the agreement and as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

After the July Uprising in 2024 and the subsequent dissolution of the parliament by President Mohammad Shahabuddin, Sing lost his seat as a Member of Parliament.

On 5 August 2024 his residence in Bandarban was attacked following reports of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s departure from the country. After celebratory processions in the hill district town, a group of agitated individuals set fire to the local office of Awami League and vandalised his residence.

His residence in Bandarban was again set on fire following reports of the death of Inqilab Moncho leader Osman Hadi. According to witnesses, a group of approximately 20 to 25 people first held a brief protest march at a traffic intersection in Bandarban town before moving toward the Rajar Math area, chanting slogans and later setting fire to his house. The army was subsequently deployed to disperse the protesters, after which firefighters brought the blaze under control at around 2:00 a.m., approximately one hour after operations began. By that time, the ground floor of the building had been severely damaged, but the upper floors and nearby structures were unaffected. Two cars and two motorcycles parked on the premises were also destroyed, and police reported that two officers were injured during the incident.

Sports Administration From 1998 to 2001, Sing served as Senior Vice-President of the Bangladesh Football Federation and as Chairman of the Bangladesh Football Referee Committee. In 1997, he led the Bangladesh national football team delegation to Malaysia for the FIFA World Cup qualification and served as the team’s head. He also acted as Chief of Mission for the Bangladesh team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia.

On 3 August 2025, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed two separate cases against Sing and his wife, Mehla Prue, alleging the acquisition of illegal wealth worth approximately Tk 11.50 crore and suspicious financial transactions amounting to Tk 74 crore. According to the ACC, its investigation found that Sing had conducted suspicious transactions of nearly Tk 58.41 crore through 13 bank accounts while serving as Minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs and as a Member of Parliament from Bandarban, including deposits of over Tk 32.16 crore and withdrawals of more than Tk 26.24 crore. The commission also alleged that he possessed illegal assets worth about Tk 9.18 crore. In a separate case, the ACC stated that his wife had conducted suspicious transactions exceeding Tk 15.58 crore through six bank accounts, with deposits of nearly Tk 9.31 crore and withdrawals of over Tk 6.28 crore, and that transactions of more than Tk 3.35 crore were beyond her known sources of income. Sing was named as a co-accused in the case against his wife. The cases were filed under Section 27(1) of the ACC Act 2004, Sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012, and Section 109 of the Bangladesh Penal Code.

Personal life Sing married Mehla Prue in 1991. The couple has two sons and one daughter.