First Capital University shut down amid trustee board conflict
First Capital University of Bangladesh in Chuadanga has been shut down indefinitely following an internal conflict within its trustee board. The university has remained closed since July 23 due to a series of takeover and counter-takeover incidents, leaving nearly 2,000 students facing severe uncertainty over their academic future.
The university was established in 2012 to expand higher education opportunities in Chuadanga. However, within a few years, administrative disorder reportedly escalated significantly.
The institution was founded under The First Capital Education, Health and Agriculture Welfare Trust, which aimed not only to provide higher education but also to contribute to the development of the district's health and agricultural sectors.
The trust's founding chairman was Solayman Haque Joarder Chelun, the then Member of Parliament elected from the Awami League, whose activities have since been banned. Professor Abdul Motaleb served as secretary, while Alim Uddin Laskar was the treasurer.
Speaking to Asia Post, founding members alleged that although Solayman Haque Joarder Chelun was the founding chairman of the trustee board, following the 2014 national election he used political influence to turn the university into a family-controlled institution. As part of that process, in 2015 he excluded the original trustees and established a separate entity called the First Capital University of Bangladesh Trust.
They alleged that the move was orchestrated by Chelun's younger brother, Riazul Islam Joarder Toton. While both trusts operated under Chelun's leadership, only family members were included in the second trust, effectively transforming the university into a private family enterprise.
The founding trustees further claimed that because the newly formed trustee board consisted of influential Awami League leaders at the district and sub-district levels, they were unable to protest at the time. They also alleged that although 15.06 bighas of land had been registered in the trust's name for the university in 2012, the "occupying" trustee board had failed to pay for the land even after 16 years.
An investigation by Asia Post found that several key administrative positions, including assistant registrar, were filled without complying with University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations and without the required qualifications. It also found that numerous unnecessary positions were created through political influence.
Additionally, after the death of founding chairman Solayman Haque Joarder Chelun, Deputy Registrar Nafiul Islam Joarder Shanto allegedly occupied the chairman's office and began using it as his own.
After 12 years, on July 21, the original founding trustees regained control of the campus with police assistance. They initiated the process of appointing a new vice-chancellor in an effort to restore administrative transparency.
However, just two days later, on July 23, Deputy Registrar Nafiul Islam Joarder Shanto allegedly entered the campus with outsiders and forcibly announced the indefinite closure of the university while chanting political slogans.
Along with the closure announcement, Shanto issued a notice identifying himself as the acting registrar. The notice stated: "The fascist Laskar group has been removed. The university will be run by the legitimate (previous) trust."
The notice also thanked leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its affiliated organizations for their support in what it described as the restoration of the institution.
Protesting the alleged reoccupation, Mohammad Alim Uddin Laskar, treasurer of the founding trustee board and current chairman, held a press conference near the campus on July 23. In a letter sent to the UGC, he claimed that the university's only legitimate governing body is The First Capital Education, Health and Agriculture Welfare Trust, established in 2012, and that this trust officially resumed control of the campus on July 21 after a 12-year gap.
At the press conference and in the letter to the UGC, Laskar alleged that after 2014, Riazul Islam Joarder Toton and Nafiul Islam Joarder Shanto created a fraudulent second trust by scanning the signatures of founding members and submitting false information to the Ministry of Education and the UGC.
He further alleged that they broke fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) worth nearly Tk 15 million without proper authorization and misappropriated the funds.
Laskar also claimed that on July 23, the university was shut down irregularly without the approval of the trustee board, using outsiders to seize control of the campus.
"We want the situation to return to normal immediately so that students can resume their classes," Laskar said.
Faruk Ahmed, a member of the founding trustee board, said, "During the Awami League government, the university was occupied and turned into a family-owned institution. Even though we possess the legitimate legal documents, they are once again trying to seize control of the university through political influence."
Asia Post made several attempts to contact Deputy Registrar Nafiul Islam Joarder Shanto for comment, but he did not answer phone calls. Questions sent to him via WhatsApp by a reporter also received no response.