JS panel formed to examine
A parliamentary panel, on Sunday, has assigned a sub-committee to investigate changes in the name and age of detained Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh leader Delawar Hossain Sayeedee, that were reportedly made 50 years after he had passed his Dakhil examination. Whip Sk. Abdul Wahab will head the three-member parliamentary investigation committee, which will look into whether Sayeedee, one of the prime accused in war crimes, followed due legal course, as well as, his intentions, in making changes in his name and age, after so many years.
The parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of education, at a meeting, came up with the decision, following reports that Sayeedee had twice changed his name. Earlier documents show that the Jamaat leader had passed the Dakhil examination (School Secondary Certificate equivalent), when he was only 10 years old.
“The committee members believe that Sayeedee might have taken shelter of forgery in changing his name and age,” Rashed Khan Menon, chairman of the committee, said, adding that an individual could correct his or her name, only within two years of passing the examination. But Sayeedee, who was a lawmaker of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led ruling alliance, in the previous 8th parliament, changed his name after 50 years, ahead of the last general elections.
Sayeedee had corrected his name twice, as he cited that his name was misspelled in both his Fazil and Kamil examination certificates, said the committee chairman. “It seems unrealistic, as how come the name of a person appears incorrect in both his certificates.”
Two committees generally work for correction of names and age in Madrasah Education Board, but, in Sayeedee’s case, only one committee came up with a hasty decision, only in four hours, said the chairman.
Although there is a provision of having a civil surgeon in the committee, no civil surgeon was present in the committee that granted Sayeedee’s request, he added.
“The committee has taken the matter seriously. It’s important to know why a suspected war criminal needed to amend his name 50 years after his examination. The subcommittee will also find out who else were involved in the process,” the committee chairman told reporters after the meeting at parliament building.
Sayeedee corrected his name on November 10, 2008, more than a month ahead of the general elections. His name was Abu Nayeem Mohammad Delawar Hossain Sayeedi in his Dakhil exam certificate, issued by the Madrasah Education Board in 1957. He corrected his name to Delwar Hossain Sayeedi in 2008.
Presided over by committee chairman Rashed Khan Menon, the meeting asked the subcommittee to submit its report in its next meeting.
The meeting, also attended by education minister Nurul Islam Nahid, Kazi Faruk Kader, Biren Sikdar, Md. Shah Alam and Mumtaz Begum finalised the scrutiny on three bills — Jagannnath University (Amendment) Bill 2012, Comilla University (Amendment) Bill 2012, and Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University (Amendment) Bill 2012 — and recommended their passage in the next session of Parliament.
-With The Independent input
