IUT VC Recruitment Stalled as Foreign Ministry Denies Clearance to Top 3 Shortlisted Candidates

Serious allegations of irregularities have emerged against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for reportedly blocking the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor at the Islamic University of Technology (IUT). Sources claim the ministry denied security clearance to the top three shortlisted candidates, including members of constitutional bodies, to pave the way for a candidate preferred by a top ministry official.

IUT, located in Gazipur, is an international engineering university managed by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Known as an OIC-run institution, the university’s current VC, Professor Dr. Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, resigned, leaving the post vacant. On May 13 last year, the OIC issued a global advertisement for the position, which was widely circulated through the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education in Bangladesh.

The Selection Process and Sudden Halt

Sources report that after verifying applications and conducting online interviews, the OIC finalized a panel of three qualified candidates. A final in-person interview was scheduled for January 4, 2026, at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. To facilitate this, the OIC completed all preparations, including hotel bookings and air tickets, and requested formal clearance from the Bangladesh government.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide clearance for any of the three candidates. Consequently, the candidates learned just two days before their flight that their interviews had been postponed.

On January 20, a final email from the OIC stated: “The OIC General Secretariat would like to inform you that the clearance/no objection from the host Government is an essential requirement of the process. Regretfully, we have not received the requisite clearance. Therefore, it is not possible to proceed further.”

The Excluded Candidates and Their Reactions

The three candidates on the final list hold significant academic and constitutional roles:

• Professor Dr. Syeda Sultana Razia: Member of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) and Professor of Chemical Engineering at BUET.

• Professor Dr. Sohel Rahman: Member of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) and Professor at BUET.

• The third candidate is a professor at a public university and current VC of a private university.

Professor Dr. Syeda Sultana Razia expressed her shock, stating: “This incident is shocking to me. I could be dropped after giving an interview, that's one thing. But I already hold a constitutional post. The status of a BERC member is equivalent to a High Court Judge. My background has been checked many times. If there were issues with clearance, I shouldn't have reached this position.”

She had even taken leave from the Chief Adviser’s office for the Jeddah trip before finding her ticket was canceled on December 30.

Allegations of Favoritism and Political Ties

Reports suggest the Foreign Adviser admitted to another adviser that the three-person panel was canceled due to "unfavorable intelligence reports." However, it is alleged that the ministry is pushing for a preferred candidate who was not among the OIC’s original top three.

This preferred candidate reportedly completed his Masters in Applied Physics at Rajshahi University, earned a PhD from Japan, and currently works as a professor in Malaysia. He is also known for ties to the "Awami family." Sources indicate that toward the end of the previous government's tenure, he returned to Bangladesh to join a private university and attempted to become a VC of a public university, but returned to Malaysia following the July mass uprising.

An anonymous member of an important government institution told The Daily Campus: “How can a member of the country's Public Service Commission not get clearance? Basically, the Foreign Adviser has done this to bring in someone new by excluding the panel of three. I am sure that person is very powerful, or there is some benefit involved for the Foreign Adviser. Transparency is the main strength of this government; how do they dare to do such a thing?”

Administrative Silence and Denial

Sanchita Haque, Director General of the International Organizations Wing at the Foreign Ministry, told The Daily Campus: “Nothing of this sort has happened yet, and it is still under process. I don't know about any allegations.”

When asked about the denial of clearance, she added, “You should ask them [the candidates] who told them this. I don't know about it.”

Efforts to reach Foreign Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain, Secretary Asad Alam Siam, and Ministry Spokesperson SM Mahbubul Alam for comments were unsuccessful. Director Md. Monoar Mokarram of the Secretary’s office referred the matter to the International Organizations Wing, but Secretary M Farhadul Islam could not be reached.