it has now been looted and wrecked
A Labour Minister’s family holiday home in Bangladesh has been wrecked after her aunt was ousted from power.
The luxury retreat once frequented by Tulip Siddiq was looted and vandalised after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country.
The property is owned by Ms Siddiq’s father and the gardens featured signs reading “Tulip’s Territory”.
During Hasina’s premiership, opponents were attacked, arrested and secretly imprisoned.
As Bangladesh transitions to an interim government, buildings linked to Hasina and her family have been targeted.
The Telegraph reported that Ms Siddiq last visited the property in 2019 and she has never been there with her aunt.
A plaque on a wall and another brick planter around a garden area with her name were installed several years ago.
Her father wanted to create permanent family memories by replacing painted signs made when she was younger with the “Tulip’s Territory” plaques.
The property in Kanaiya is called “Rupi’s Retreat” and it includes signs dedicated to other family members, including one referring to “Bobby’s Bungalow”.
Ms Siddiq does not own any part of the estate.
The estate includes a red duplex house overlooking a huge pond surrounded by greenery and fruit trees.
The wider plot is believed to include guest rooms and several more ponds but it has now been looted and wrecked, with windows smashed.
Reportedly, Ms Siddiq and other family members used to visit in winter.
At other times, cars with national flags would be seen entering and law enforcement would guard the gates.
A local newspaper said: “It speaks to the heart of garden luxury.”
Following Sheikh Hasina’s downfall, the Labour Minister has been facing questions over her ties to her aunt and why she did not raise concerns about the authoritarian regime.
On social media, Ms Siddiq praised her aunt as a “strong female role model” for her own daughter.
Fresh questions over her family links come after Ms Siddiq was accused of failing to help a British-trained barrister detained for nearly a decade in brutal conditions under her aunt’s authoritarian regime.
Lawyers representing Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem Arman, who vanished in 2016, said Ms Siddiq could have used her personal connections to free him earlier from eight years of secret imprisonment.
He was one of hundreds of people who disappeared under Hasina’s regime and was finally released earlier in August 2024 as her government collapsed.
While she has been criticised for not using her personal connections to free the lawyer, it is understood that Ms Siddiq wrote to Boris Johnson, then foreign secretary, over the case in December 2017, after it was raised by constituents, believing this was the correct protocol.
Ms Siddiq has previously faced scrutiny over her properties in the UK after failing to declare a London rental.
The parliamentary standards commissioner cleared the MP, saying the property had been inadvertently registered late.
Asked about the holiday home in Bangladesh, a Labour Party spokesperson said:
“This is not Tulip’s property and Tulip does not own any property outside of the United Kingdom.”
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