The appointment of Mobaswer Hossain as Acting Principal of the reputed Ideal College in the capital has triggered controversy as he has been provided with the key post without verifying his foreign academic certificates.
His (Mobaswer) appointment to the post of Acting Principal of the Ideal College in the city’s Dhanmondi area is also fraught with allegations of documents manipulation and misrepresentation of facts,
The issue of the controversial appointment came to light when questions were raised about the academic background and nationality of Mobaswer Hossain.
Mobaswer Hossain took over as the Acting Principal of the Ideal College on April 1 this year.
He could neither provide his birth registration certificate nor SSC certificate to determine his date of birth. He clearly mentioned in his submitted form of the National Education Survey-1999 of Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) that he passed SSC exam in 1981 and HSC in 1983 with first division, which was actually false. He also wrote his name as Mobaswer Hossain.
He also provided a foreign certificate issued by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, where his name was mysteriously mentioned as Mobashwer Hossain instead of Mobaswer Hossain.
It was mentioned that he (Mobashwer Hossain) passed Madhyamik Parikhsha (Secondary Examination) from Pubar Panduk Dinanathpur High School in 1981. In his first foreign educational certificate, his date of birth was recorded as 17th March,1965.
According to his Bangladeshi NID (93123237524**), his date of birth is on March 17 in 1965 with his name Mobaswer Hossain.
His latest e-passport (B000836**) data also shows that his date of birth is March 17 in 1965 and his place of birth mentioned in the passport is at Chapainawbganj.
Thus he submitted documents where his name and place of birth was not similar.
He was issued MRP passport BN06162**. Earlier, he had obtained handwritten passport Z04359**.
Thus his information was not same in his Bangladeshi and Indian documents, Bangladesh Post investigation reveals.
Bangladesh Post correspondent obtained a video clip where Mobaswer’s own brother Mozammel was heard to disclose some details of his family members who were Indian nationals. According to the video clip, Mobaswer’s father was Maulavi Nazme Alam, his grand father was Maulavi Ahmmad Hossain.
Maulavi Ahmmad Hossain’s father was Jashim Uddin, his grandfather was Ayozuddin. Ayozuddin’s father was Kolomuddin and his grandfather was Shokuluddin. They all were born at Pubar Maulavipara village under Aushgram Police Station of Burdwan district in West Bengal of India.
Mobaswer’s another brother Maulana Mohammad Hossain, who is a teacher of the Madrasa Mohammadia Arabia at Bangladeshi capital city’s Jatrabari area also admitted that their family came to Bangladesh from India.
Responding to another question, Maulana Mohammad Hossain also confessed that some of his family members are still living in India and they have properties there.
About his submitted educational certificates from different Indian educational institutions, Mozammel himself admitted that he went to India without any valid Bangladeshi passport and student visas.
His first handwritten passport was issued on May 24 in 2006 from Dhaka, investigation further reveals.
So a question has been raised how he competed his education from abroad even before obtaining his Bangladeshi passport and Indian visa.
He was reportedly born in India, where he completed his primary, secondary and undergraduate education until 1990. He then moved to Bangladesh and commenced employment at a high school.
Although Mobaswer claims Bangladeshi citizenship, the process of his naturalization remains unclear and allegations of fraudulent activities have been levelled against him.
Despite objections from the elected teachers' representative of the College Management Ad hoc Committee regarding Mobaswer's controversial national identity, the committee issued him an appointment letter on March 27 for a six-month term, beginning April 1,2024. To see the detailed documents, click here or scan the QR code to view the full documents.
Subsequently, Mobaswer, with the assistance of Committee Chairman Nasiruddin Yousuff, allegedly forged a duplicate appointment letter, altering the ‘six-month’ duration to ‘until the next order,’ bypassing the committee’s authority.
The National University authorities have reportedly reprimanded Nasiruddin Yousuff for his action and asked him to restore the original terms and condition.
Regarding his background, Mobaswer has purportedly misrepresented himself as a Bangladeshi and used local examination titles to obscure his foreign qualifications, said a teacher of the college, seeking anonymity.
According to Mobaswer’s certificates, he completed his Madhyamik Pariksha (Secondary Examination) at Pubar Panduk Dinanathpur High School in 1981 and his Higher Secondary Examination at Bolpur College in Burdwan district of West Bengal in 1983.
He obtained a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Chemistry and a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) from the University of Burdwan in 1986 and 1989, respectively.
He pursued his Master's degree in Chemistry at Govt Jagannath College under Dhaka University in 1991.
Questions have been raised about his admission to Govt Jagannath College in 1991 without presenting his foreign Bsc certificate, which were issued in 1995.
In his professional life, Mobaswer commenced as an assistant teacher at Millat High School, Bangshal, in the capital on October 17, 1990, where he served until June 30, 2002.
He joined the Ideal College as a lecturer on July 1, 2002, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020, considering his prolonged period of teaching and on 'humanitarian' grounds.
An objection was raised against Mobaswer's appointment by Md Nur Al Maruf Newaz, a Teachers' Representative in the College Management Ad hoc Committee, citing concerns over his foreign academic credentials and nationality.
Despite the controversies, Mobaswer was appointed, prompting Maruf Newaz to send a complaint letter to the National University Vice-Chancellor, alleging forgery and misrepresentation by Mobaswer.
Maruf Newaz requested the Vice-Chancellor to take necessary action to ‘protect the institution’ and highlighted Mobaswer's moral disqualification for the role of Acting Principal.
In response, Nasiruddin Yousuff, Chairman of the College Management Ad hoc Committee, downplayed the issue, dismissing them as exaggerated.
Talking to this correspondent over phone, Nasiruddin Yousuff also admitted that Mobaswer is by birth an Indian citizen.
However, many documents provided by Mobaswer showed that he is by birth a Bangladeshi citizen.
When this correspondent drew attention of Nasiruddin Yousuff to these documents, he changed his earlier claim and said Mobaswer was born in Bangladesh and studied in India.
His grandfather’s house was in India, he stated.
We cheeked his certificate from Dhaka University. I do not work in police. Better I suggest you to talk to Mobaswer Hossain, he added.
About the by-passing the decision of the College Adhoc management committee, Nasiruddin Yousuff said, “I did not know the rules. When the National University asked to make the appointment with six months duration, I did it, he continued.
He also disclosed that there were some disputes among the teachers and following the disputes, they are poking against each other.
According to a document, Mobaswer had given an undertaking before getting appointment as the acting principal of the college taking all the responsibilities arising out of any legal complications due to his foreign educational certificates and national identity.
About the verification of the foreign educational certificates submitted by Mobaswer, Prof Dr Shamsul Alam, former Principal of the College who discharged his duty when Mobaswer was appointed, said, “We should have verified the certificates.”
Md Masuduzzaman Khan, Chairman of Delduar Union Parishad said, “I do not know Mobaswer. But I knew his father, who was known as Indian Maulana.”
They built their house around 30 years ago, he added.
Md. Saheb Ali Miah, local UP member said that the family members of Mobaswer is very pious. There is no allegation against them in our area, he continued.
On July 6 in 2001, late Md Abu Sayed Miah,former Chairman of Delduar UP had provided a certificate stating that Mobaswer is a Bangladeshi citizen by birth and he was born at Delduar.But this correspondent could not verify the certificate as he had passed away around one and half years ago.
