Mustafa Jabbar

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Mustafa Jabbar
মোস্তাফা জব্বার
Jabbar in 2018
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
In office
19 May 2019 – 29 November 2023[1]
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byHimself (as Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology)
Succeeded byvacant
Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology
In office
7 January 2019 – 19 May 2019
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byHimself (as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications)
In office
2 January 2018 – 9 December 2018
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Succeeded byHimself
Personal details
Born (1949-08-12) 12 August 1949 (age 75)
Brahmanbaria, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan
NationalityBangladeshi
Alma materDhaka College University of Dhaka

Mustafa Jabbar (pronounced [mostapʰa dʒɔbbar]; born 12 August 1949)[2] is a Bangladeshi businessman, technology entrepreneur and a former Minister of Post and Telecommunication[3] in the Government of Bangladesh.[4][5][6][7] He also served as the president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS).[8] He was initially known for the creation of Bijoy Bengali keyboard, which was developed in 1988, and was a widely used Bengali input method before the release of Unicode based Avro Keyboard.[9] He served as the president of Bangladesh Computer Samity, the national ICT organisation of Bangladesh for four consecutive periods.[10] He is a champion of Bangla Bhasha Procholon Ain, 1987, and has been praised for promoting the Bengali language in the digital media.[11]

Early life and education

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Jabbar's ancestral home is in Krishnapur village, Khaliajuri Upazila in Netrokona district. He was born on Ashuganj Upazila in Brahmanbaria District to Abdul Jabbar Talukdar and Rabeya Khatun. Jabbar passed his HSC examination from Dhaka College. In 1968, he enrolled in the Department of Bangla at the University of Dhaka and completed his BA in 1972 and MA in journalism in 1974.[12][13]

Career

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Jabbar started his career as a journalist in 1972 for Daily Ganakantha until its shutdown in 1975. In 1973, he was elected as the publicity secretary of the Dhaka Union of Journalists. He got involved in the businesses of travel agency, printing and publication. He had served as the general secretary of the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB).[14]

Jabbar is a founder member of the Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) and its four-time president. He also anchored television shows on IT.[14] Jabbar founded Ananda Computers, best known for falsely claiming the Bangla keyboard Bijoy invented by Pappana. He heads the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services — the trade body of IT entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.[14]

Jabbar started a venture involving computers and IT in 1987 and launched the Bijoy Bangla Keyboard and Software on 16 December 1988.[14] He has developed Bijoy Library, a library management Software which is being used by libraries of Bangladesh including British Council. He has developed a software named Bijoy Shishu Shiksha for pre-school kids. He developed Prathomik Computer Shiksha, based on textbooks published by National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB). He established schools in Bangladesh including computer-based Ananda Multimedia School and Bijoy Digital School.[12]

He is involved in writing textbooks on computer in Bangla and English.[15] Jabbar sat on several government committees on ICT affairs, including the prime minister–formed Digital Bangladesh Taskforce. He is also a member of the Bangladesh Copyright Board.[14] He was appointed as the Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology of the Government of Bangladesh on 3 January 2018.[14][16]

Jabbar was a member of Mujib Bahini (Bangladesh Liberation Force) in 1971 and participated in the Liberation War of Bangladesh. He was involved in the movement of freedom of the press and was actively associated with the Dhaka Union of Journalists. He was elected as the Organising Secretary of Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ).[15]

Mustafa Jabbar has been praised for popularizing the use of the Bengali language in computer and other digital media.[11] A champion of Bangla Bhasha Procholon Ain, 1987,[17][18] Jabbar opines that until and unless Bengali is well-established as a language of verdict in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and as the language of research in Bangladeshi universities, Bengali language movement cannot be called finished.[18][19][20][21]

Mustafa Jabbar is also known for going after popular opensource Bengali keyboard software Avro. Later, they settled after Avro removed the alleged layout from their software. The whole affair was widely discussed in Bengali blog forums with most people supporting Avro.[22]

Jabbar's recent decisions as minister of Post and Telecommunication, such as censorship, social site monitoring and blocking of PUBG, Reddit along with popular web services like Bitly URL shortener, issuu.com, medium.com, cloud file sharing website mediafire.com, Change.org, Russian social media website VK, Imgur, Opera (web browser) and Internet Archive created a large group of critics and angered the young generation of Bangladesh.[23] His ministry also blocked a webpage containing complaints against the government's student wing- BCL without any reason.[24] As Minister he made it mandatory for all phones manufactured and imported in Bangladesh must have his software, Bijoy app, preinstalled.[25]

References

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  1. ^ টেকনোক্র্যাট তিন মন্ত্রীর পদত্যাগ কার্যকর (in Bengali). Ekattor TV. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Jabbar probable technocrat minister, again". Dhaka Tribune. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Mustafa Jabbar stripped of ICT in cabinet shuffle". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  4. ^ "IT entrepreneur Mustafa Jabbar to be made minister for ICT!". Daily Sun. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  5. ^ "47-member new cabinet announced". The Daily Star. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  6. ^ "ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar". The Daily Star. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Telecommunication and ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Mustafa Jabbar, new president of BASIS". The Daily Star. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  9. ^ "An amazing journey from Shahid Lipi to Avro". The Daily Star.
  10. ^ "Members of BCS". Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  11. ^ a b Selim, Reza. কম্পিউটারে ও মাতৃভাষায় মোস্তাফা জব্বার. Janakantha (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Bijoy Ekushe". bijoyekushe.net. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Life Sketch of Hon'able Minister Mr Mustafa Jabbar". www.ictd.gov.bd. Information and Technology Division, MOIST. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  14. ^ a b c d e f "Mustafa Jabbar raises hopes for faster digitisation". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Speakers – Mustafa Jabbar – Digital World-2015". digitalworld.org.bd. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  16. ^ "Bangladesh will export smartphones in 2yrs: ICT minister". The Daily Star. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  17. ^ Jabbar, Mustafa. বাংলার চ্যালেঞ্জ ও সম্ভাবনা - এক [Bengali language: The Challenge and the Potential (Part 1)]. Dainik Janakantha (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  18. ^ a b Jabbar, Mustafa. বাংলার চ্যালেঞ্জ ও সম্ভাবনা - দুই [Bengali language: The Challenge and the Potential (Part 2)]. Dainik Janakantha (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  19. ^ Jabbar, Mustafa. মুজিব ॥ ভাষাভিত্তিক রাষ্ট্রের পিতা [Mujib: The Father of the Language-based Nation-State]. Dainik Janakantha (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  20. ^ Jabbar, Mustafa. বাংলার চ্যালেঞ্জ ও সম্ভাবনা - তিন [Bengali language: The Challenge and the Potential (Part 3)]. Dainik Janakantha (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  21. ^ Jabbar, Mustafa (16 February 2019). জন্য সত্তর বছরের লড়াই [70 Years' Struggle for Bangla]. Bhorer Kagoj. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  22. ^ "The Fight over Fonts". Star Weekend Magazine. The Daily Star. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  23. ^ "PUBG banned in Bangladesh". Dhaka Tribune. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  24. ^ "BTRC blocks webpage containing reports of abuse in Buet". Dhaka Tribune. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  25. ^ "Phone makers must preinstall Bijoy app, but no obligation for users: Jabbar". The Daily Star. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
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