Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury

Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya (born 3 February 1948)[1] is a Bangladesh Awami League politician who served as a member of parliament from Chandpur-2 constituency and a minister of several ministries. He received the Bir Bikram, the third highest award for gallantry, for his role in the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was the general secretary for the Dhaka chapter of his party until 2016.[2]

Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya
মোফাজ্জল হোসেন চৌধুরী মায়া
Minister of Disaster Management and Relief
In office
14 January 2014 – 7 January 2019
Preceded byA H Mahmud Ali
Succeeded byMd. Enamur Rahman
State Minister of Shipping
In office
4 December 1998 – 15 July 2001
State Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives
In office
31 December 1997 – 24 December 1998
Preceded bySyed Abul Hossain
Succeeded byMd. Rahmat Ali
Jatiya Sangsad member from Chandpur-2
In office
1996–2001
Preceded byMd. Nurul Huda
Succeeded byMd. Nurul Huda
In office
2014–2019
Preceded byMd. Rafiqul Islam
Succeeded byNurul Amin Ruhul
Personal details
Born (1948-02-03) 3 February 1948
Mohanpur, Matlab, Chandpur, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan
NationalityBangladeshi
Political partyBangladesh Awami League
MotherMusammat Akhtarunnesa
FatherAli Ahsan Miah
Alma materJagannath University

Early life and education

Maya was born into a Bengali Muslim Chowdhury family in the village of Mohanpur Union in Matlab, Chandpur.[3] His father's name was Ali Ahsan Miah and his mother was Musammat Akhtarunnesa.[4]

Maya received his bachelor's in law and two master's degrees in political science, and Islamic history and culture.[1]

During the Bangladesh Liberation War, Maya was a member of the Mukti Bahini under sector 2 led by Khaled Mosharraf. He was the leader of the Crack Platoon. He was awarded the third highest award for gallantry, Bir Bikram, for his contributions during the war,[5] led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Maya was a leader[6] or participant of the platoon of students and young men under Sector No 2 that conducted guerilla attacks in Dhaka.[7] He participated in a 9 June 1971 evening grenade attack on the Hotel Intercontinental.[7]

Career

Maya was held at the Dhaka Central Jail on the Jail Killing Day in 1975.[8] He served as the general secretary of the Dhaka Awami League since 1992, when the metropolitan unit was formed, until 2016, when it was split into north and south units.[2] From 2016 to 2019, he served as a member of central working committee of the party.[9]

Maya served as a member of Jatiya Sangsad from the Chandpur-2 constituency of the 7th parliament (1996–2001) and the 10th parliament (2014–2018).[10][11] He was selected to be the state minister of Local Governments and Rural Development and Cooperatives during 1997–1998 and state minister of Shipping during 1998–2001.[12][13][14] He was the chair of the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation in 2003 and 2004.[15][16] He served as the cabinet minister of Disaster Management and Relief during 2014–2018.[17]

Maya was present in the event where 2004 Dhaka grenade attack occurred in a rally held by the Bangladesh Awami League.[18]

In November 2018, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina denied Maya's nomination for the 2018 Bangladeshi general election representing the Chandpur-2 constituency.[19][20]

Corruption charge and convictions

On 25 October 2007, Maya and four members of his family — his wife, two sons, and a daughter-in-law — were charged with corruption.[21] Maya was charged with taking and not declaring money when he was the state minister for shipping.[14] 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.[22] His family members were acquitted.[14][23] Maya was out of the country during the trial and did not return until his party was back in power.[23]

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.[24] The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed an appeal of the case in 2011 before the Supreme Court,[14] which reversed the appellate decision on 14 June 2015.[23][25] Following an appeal by Maya, the charges were upheld by the supreme court of Bangladesh in April 2016.[25] In October 2018, High Court once again acquitted Maya in that case[26][27]

Personal life

Maya is married to Parveen Chowdhury and has two sons and a daughter. The elder son, Sajedul Hossain Chowdhury Dipu, is involved in active politics in Chandpur as a member of the Bangladesh Jubo League central working committee. In April 2008 Dipu was convicted of corruption charges and sentenced to three years in jail.[28] The other son, Rashedul Hossain Chowdhury, is a director for the FBCCI panel of 2017–2019. The daughter, Rifat Sayeed, is married to Lieutenant Colonel (sacked) Tareque Sayeed who was convicted in the Narayanganj Seven murder case of 2014[29] and given death penalty on 17 January 2017[30] on charges of abduction, murder, concealing the bodies, conspiracy and destroying evidence.[31]

References
  1. "Constituency 261 – Chandpur-2". Bangladesh Parliament. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  2. "Awami League announces committees for newly formed Dhaka North and South units". bdnews24. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  3. প্রখ্যাত ব্যক্তিত্ব. Matlab North (in Bengali).
  4. মোফাজ্জল হোসেন চৌধুরী মায়া বীর বিক্রম, এমপি. Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  5. "Minister retracts comment that military led 1971 war". bdnews24. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  6. "Reminiscence:Ahmed Imtiaz Bulbul talks about his Liberation War days". The Daily Star. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  7. Habibul Alam (16 December 2013). "Operation Hotel Intercontinental: 'Hit and Run'". The Daily Star. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  8. "Criminal Appeal No. 23 of 2011" (PDF). Bangladesh Supreme Court. p. 178. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  9. "Awami League Central Working Committee 2016–2019". Bangladesh Awami League. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  10. "Member's of 7th Parliament of Bangladesh". Bangladesh Affairs. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  11. "Bangladesh ruling party sweeps violent vote". Al Jazeera English.
  12. Country Report: Bangladesh. The Unit. 1997. p. 14.
  13. 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.
  14. "ACC's Drama over Maya". The New Nation. Dhaka. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  15. The Europa World Year Book 2003. Taylor & Francis. 2003. p. 679. ISBN 978-1-85743-227-5.
  16. Europa World Year. Taylor & Francis. 2004. p. 702. ISBN 978-1-85743-254-1.
  17. Tom Lansford (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. CQ Press. p. 532. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
  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. "Maya's ticket cancelled". The Daily Star. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  20. "Nominations of Maya, Shamsul cancelled". Dhaka Tribune. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  21. "Maya, family charged with hiding wealth". The Daily Star. 26 October 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  22. "Maya jailed for 13yrs for amassing ill-gotten wealth". The Daily Star. 15 February 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  23. "Bangladesh's SC scraps acquittal of relief minister". The Daily Star. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  24. "Verdict on Maya's appeal against conviction today". The Daily Star. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  25. "Graft case: 13-yr jail term for Maya remains". The Daily Star. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  26. "HC once again acquits Maya in graft case". The Daily Star. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  27. "HC scraps Maya's jail sentence in graft case". Dhaka Tribune. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  28. "Maya's son Dipu gets 3yrs". The Daily Star. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  29. "RAB's Tareq among 35 charged with Narayanganj seven murders". Dhaka Tribune. 9 April 2015. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  30. "Ex-AL men, Ex-RAB officials among 26 handed death penalty". Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 19 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  31. "Former RAB man blames ex-commander for consequences after conviction for seven murders". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
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