Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury

Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya
মোফাজ্জল হোসেন চৌধুরী মায়া
Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief
In office
1996–1999
President Iajuddin Ahmed
Zillur Rahman
Abdul Hamid
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
In office
1999–2001
In office
5 January 2014 – Running
Personal details
Born (1948-02-03) 3 February 1948[1]
Chandpur
Nationality Bangladeshi
Political party Bangladesh Awami League
Spouse(s) Parveen Chowdhury (Rina)
Children 3
Alma mater Jagannath University

Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury, also known as Maya (born 3 February 1948), is a Bangladeshi politician. He received the Bir Bikram, the third highest award for gallantry, for his role in the Bangladesh Liberation War, and he helped protect Sheikh Hasina during the 2004 Dhaka grenade attack. He has been general secretary for the Dhaka chapter of the Bangladesh Awami League for the longest time (1992-2016). Currently, he represents the Chandpur-2 constituency in the Bangladesh Parliament. He has served several cabinet minister positions, which includes Ministry of Shipping, Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) and Disaster and Relief Management.

Early life and education

Maya received a bachelor of law degree (LLB) and two master's degrees, one in political science, and the other in Islamic history and culture.[1] He also studied at a music college, in Segunbagicha, Dhaka.[2]

Bangladesh Liberation War

Maya was a member of the Mukti Bahini under sector 2 led by Khaled Mosharraf. He was the leader of the well known Crack Platoon. Maya was awarded the third highest award for gallantry, Bir Bikram, for his contributions during Bangladesh Liberation War,[3] led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Maya was a leader[4] or participant of the platoon of students and young men under Sector No 2 that conducted guerilla attacks in Dhaka.[2] He participated in a 9 June 1971 evening grenade attack on the Hotel Intercontinental. The goal of the mission, called Operation Hotel Intercontinental: 'Hit and Run', was to prevent the funding of the Pakistani junta, by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the World Bank Aid Mission. It was also to let them know that Dhaka was not totally under control of the Pakistani army.[2]

Career

Overview

Maya was a member of the 7th parliament for Chandpur-2 of the Constituency 261.[5] The election, which took place in 1996,[6] was for a five-year term.[7] He was the minister of Local Governments and Rural Development and Cooperatives in 1997 and 1998.[8][9] Maya was chair of the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation in 2003 and 2004.[10][11] He was the Shipping Minister, for which he was charged and tried for corruption.[12] Maya was a member of the 10th parliament for Chandpur-2 of the Constituency 261[1] beginning in 2014.[13] Maya has been the cabinet minister for Disaster and Relief Management.[14]

Bangladesh Awami League

On the night 15 August 1975 when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated, Maya openly protested and condemned the killings, for which Maya was arrested and held at the Dhaka Central Jail. He was there on Jail Killing Day.[15] Imprisoned for 3 years along with the four national leaders of Bangladesh, they were later freed by writ in the High Court. He was General Secretary of the Dhaka Awami League since 1992, when the metropolitan unit was formed[16] and again before 2016, when it was split into north and south units.[16] From 2016 to 2019, he is a member of central working committee of the party.[17]

2004 grenade attack

At exactly 5:20 pm on 21 August 2004, there was an attack on a rally held by the Bangladesh Awami League in front of its offices on Bangabandhu Avenue. At the time that Sheikh Hasina, the president of the Bangladesh Awami League, concluded her speech, nine grenades exploded. This left 24 people dead and more than 300 people injured. Senior leaders of the party who were on the stage—including Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and Mohammad Hanif—formed a human barricade around Hasina to protect her and got her into her bulletproof jeep so that she could leave the area. Men like Maya and Hanif are credited with saving her life. The same day, Maya had blamed the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government for the attack. He had been at the hospital to see all the party men as leader of the party Sheikh Hasina sent him. Maya said "Hundreds of party men are injured today. We asked the cops for help but instead of helping us, they charged at us and even fired at Apa (Sheikh Hasina)".[18]

Corruption charges

On 25 October 2007, Maya and four members of his family—his wife, son, and a daughter-in-law—were charged with corruption. Maya was charged with taking and not declaring money when he was the state minister for shipping.[12] On 14 February 2008, Maya was convicted of the charges and he was sentenced to 13 years in jail, had property worth Tk 59 million confiscated, and was fined Tk 50 million. His family members were acquitted.[12][19] Maya was out of the country during the trial and did not return until his party was back in power.[19] In 2008, Maya's oldest son, Sajedul Hossain Chowdhury who is also known as Dipu, was also convicted of corruption charges and sentenced to three years in jail and was fined Tk 500,000, which if not paid will result in an additional year in jail. At the time, he was "on the run".[20]

On 20 May 2009, he surrendered before the Dhaka court and was taken to prison, but was released after he won an appeal of the case on 27 October 2010, when the judges acquitted him of the charges. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed an appeal of the case in 2011 before the Supreme Court,[12] which reversed the appellate decision on 14 June 2015.[19][21] Following an appeal by Maya, the charges were upheld by the supreme court of Bangladesh in April 2016.[21]

Personal life

Maya is married to Parveen Chowdhury and had two sons, Sajedul Hossain Chowdhury, who is involved in active politics in Chandpur. Sajedul Hossain Chowdhury has been the general secretary of the CNG workshops and filling station Association of Bangladesh as well as being a member of the Bangladesh Jubo League central working committee. Maya's younger son is Rashedul Hossain Chowdhury. Rashedul Hossain Chowdhury is a director for the FBCCI panel of 2017-2019.[12] Maya also has a daughter, Rifat Sayeed, who was married to Lieutenant Colonel (sacked) Tareque Sayeed. He was convicted in the Narayanganj Seven murder case of 2014[22] and given death penalty on 17 January 2017[23] on charges of abduction, murder, concealing the bodies, conspiracy and destroying evidence.[24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Constituency 261 – Chandpur-2". Bangladesh Parliament. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Habibul Alam (16 December 2013). "Operation Hotel Intercontinental: 'Hit and Run'". The Daily Star. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "Minister retracts comment that military led 1971 war". bdnews24. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "Reminiscence:Ahmed Imtiaz Bulbul talks about his Liberation War days". The Daily Star. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Member's of 7th Parliament of Bangladesh". Bangladesh Affairs. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann (2001). Elections in Asia: A data handbook. I. p. 525. ISBN 0-19-924958-X.
  7. ↑ "Bangladesh Constitution" (PDF). Parliament of Bangladesh. Retrieved 12 April 2011 – via International Relations and Security Network.
  8. ↑ Country Report: Bangladesh. The Unit. 1997. p. 14.
  9. ↑ Arthur S. Banks; Alan J. Day; Thomas C. Muller (2016). Political Handbook of the World 1998. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-349-14951-3.
  10. ↑ The Europa World Year Book 2003. Taylor & Francis. 2003. p. 679. ISBN 978-1-85743-227-5.
  11. ↑ Europa World Year. Taylor & Francis. 2004. p. 702. ISBN 978-1-85743-254-1.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "ACC's Drama over Maya". The New Nation. Dhaka. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  13. ↑ "Bangladesh ruling party sweeps violent vote". Al Jazeera English.
  14. ↑ Tom Lansford (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. CQ Press. p. 532. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
  15. ↑ "Criminal Appeal No. 23 of 2011" (PDF). Bangladesh Supreme Court. p. 178. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  16. 1 2 "Awami League announces committees for newly formed Dhaka North and South units". bdnews24. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  17. ↑ "Awami League Central Working Committee 2016–2019". Bangladesh Awami League. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  18. ↑ Rafe Sadnan Adel; Tazlina Zamila Khan (21 August 2014). "It was the human shield that saved Hasina". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  19. 1 2 3 "Bangladesh's SC scraps acquittal of relief minister". The Daily Star. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  20. ↑ "Maya's son Dipu gets 3yrs". The Daily Star. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  21. 1 2 "Graft case: 13-yr jail term for Maya remains". The Daily Star. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  22. ↑ "RAB's Tareq among 35 charged with Narayanganj seven murders". Dhaka Tribune. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  23. ↑ "Ex-AL men, Ex-RAB officials among 26 handed death penalty". Prothom Alo. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  24. ↑ "Former RAB man blames ex-commander for consequences after conviction for seven murders". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
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