High Commissioner for Bangladesh proud of Rochdale roots

Rochdale MP Paul Rowen was pleased to present His Excellency Anwar Choudhury, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh with a reminder of his roots - a Rochdale football shirt. Mr Rowen, presented the youngest British High Commissioner of any country with the shirt in the capital city Dhaka of Bangladesh to Mr Chowdhury - who grew up in Rochdale and still has family living in the town.

Mr Rowen said: "The High Commissioner was delighted to receive the shirt and promptly put it on to the delight of staff at the Commission. It is clear that he has not forgotten his Rochdale roots and spoke fondly of his time at Greenhill School in our town (now Falinge Park High School). We talked about setting up a link between his old school and one in Bangladesh. This is something that I will definitely be pursuing.

"I know the people of Rochdale are hugely proud of what Mr Choudhury has achieved, he is a great role model for the people of Rochdale. I was very pleased to deliver many messages from local Rochdale people to His Excellency."

Anwar Choudhury was born in Bangladesh but moved to Rochdale at a very young age. He attended Greenhill School and embarked on a degree in Manchester. Since then his career has rocketed. In a speech last year he said: "Since leaving college I have been lucky to have been able to beat a pathway through all major sectors having worked in British industry, Defence Service, Civil Service and finally the Foreign Service. This is clearly not the conventional route to becoming an ambassador, but I think what carried me through was a clear sense of who I was. To have the confidence to know I can prosper on hard work, merit and a bit of luck. To have the pride not to want special treatment because of one's background. To put it in the immortal words of Ali G, it mustn't be 'cos I is black!"

In 2004, Mr Choudhury was injured in a terrorist grenade attack in Sylhet that left three people dead in the blast and dozens injured. He was treated for leg injuries but was not seriously hurt. He has bounced back and is a popular High Commissioner with a worldwide reputation for excellence.

Mr Rowen also visited Sylhet, where he met with dozens of people with Rochdale connections. He said: "Sylhet is an area where many thousands of local people have their roots. I spoke at length with people about the connections between Sylhet and Rochdale. I told them how proud I was at the contribution that the thousands of Rochdale residents with Bangladeshi roots have made to our town."