‘Soft BNP’ affiliates prioritised in VC appointments: Wahiduddin Mahmud

Planning Advisor Professor Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, who was the immediate past education advisor, has said he personally consulted BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir while seeking candidates for vice-chancellor (VC) appointments during his tenure.

“I told him: ‘Put aside party considerations, and as a friend, suggest some honest people from your network who could be appointed in education and administration sectors,’” Dr Mahmud said, recounting a conversation with his long-time friend and former university roommate.

In response, Mirza Fakhrul reportedly admitted the limitations within his party. “He told me, ‘None of us have had the opportunity to rise in the last 15 years. So how would I even know who is efficient or corrupt?’” Dr Mahmud recalled. Despite this, he noted that a list was eventually provided by the BNP.

Dr Mahmud made these remarks at a dialogue organised by the private research organisation RAPID (Research and Policy Integration for Development) in a Dhaka city hotel on Saturday, where he was present as the chief guest.

He acknowledged the acute difficulty appointing qualified individuals in a politically polarised environment, noting that during the interim administration, “the biggest weakness of a non-partisan government was not knowing people well enough. There were so many vacant positions, but we didn’t know who to appoint.”

Reflecting on the political affiliations often attached to university faculty members, he said, “Teachers carry political tags—white party, blue party, or something else. In this context, we had to be cautious.”

Dr Mahmud admitted that political considerations, alongside professional merit, played a role in VC appointments. “I had given some selection criteria like number of citations, honesty and competence. But it couldn’t be someone from the Awami League. So we settled for teachers who were mildly BNP or inactive BNP.”

He added, “Even BNP people joked about this, saying I don’t take real BNP people, only soft or inactive ones. That saying became quite common.”

The former education advisor said that while he received recommendations from various political parties, he also relied on personal networks to identify competent candidates.

As the term of the interim government was winding down, Dr Mahmud stressed the need for transparency. “Before we leave, we want to publicly document what we’ve done—not for publicity, but to leave a benchmark. If future governments deviate for this, at least people will be able to see it.”