Abdus Sobhan Sikder

Abdus Sobhan Sikder is a retired Bangladeshi senior secretary and former ambassador of Bangladesh to Italy. He is the former principal secretary to prime minister Sheikh Hasina. He is a former secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Early life

Sikder finished his undergrad and masters in English at the University of Dhaka.

Career

Sikder was the secretary of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division in 2008.
Sikder was the secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2010 when 20 websites of organizations under the Prime Minister's Office were hacked by Indian hackers. Lieutenant colonel Ziaul Ahsan was responsible for tracking down the hackers and Yeafesh Osman was responsible for bring them back online. He ordered actions against stalkers harassing students. He oversaw the investigation into Bangladesh Rifles revolt. He oversaw the rebranding of Bangladesh Rifles to Border Guard Bangladesh and formation of the National Committee for Intelligence Coordination. He was present at the execution of five killers of former president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In 2012, Sikder was the secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration. He saw the recruitment of four thousand doctors through a special examination of the Bangladesh Civil Service. He carried out mass promotions in the civil service and increasing the retirement age of secretaries. He was criticized for meeting with Hossain Toufique Imam along with a number of civil servants in December 2013. Questions were raised about serving civil servants having a meeting with Imam as he was the co-chairman of Election Steering Committee of the Awami League.
Sikder was the principal secretary to prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 2014. He replaced secretary Shaikh Md Wahid-uz Zaman.
Sikder was appointed ambassador of Bangladesh to Italy in May 2016. He replaced Md Shahdat Hossain who was appointed ambassador of Bangladesh to Belgium. In February 2020, he received Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who was on a bilateral visit to meet with Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte.