FARIDPUR — Shah Mohammad Abu Jafar, a freedom fighter and the Jatiya Party (JP) candidate for the Faridpur-1 constituency (Boalmari, Alfadanga and Madhukhali) in the upcoming national election, is contesting parliament for the 11th time after switching parties seven times. He has been elected as a member of parliament four times.
Shah Mohammad Abu Jafar was vice president (VP) of the student union at Faridpur Government Rajendra College. During the turbulent times of 1971, as VP of Rajendra College, he led the student movement in Faridpur and later participated in the Liberation War.
However, in the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission last December for the 13th national election, Shah Jafar listed his educational qualification as “self-educated.” The question of how a prominent VP of Rajendra College became “self-educated” has raised many eyebrows.
Shah Jafar first contested a national election in 1979. From then through 2026, he has been a candidate in every national election except in 2014. Filing affidavits has been mandatory for candidates since 2008. A review of his affidavits shows his educational qualification was listed as HSC in 2008 and 2018, SSC in the 2024 election, and self-educated in the affidavit filed in December 2025.
Asked why his educational qualification was mentioned differently at various times, Shah Mohammad Abu Jafar told Prothom Alo that his academic certificates were burned in a fire at his home in Kalabagan in the capital. Because collecting new certificates was complicated, he listed himself as “self-educated” in the latest affidavit, he said.
On listing SSC in 2024, Shah Jafar said the SSC certificate was the only one at hand in the rush at the time. Describing his educational background, Shah Jafar said he passed the secondary examination in 1968 in the humanities group in the second division and enrolled at Faridpur Government Rajendra College. While studying at the college, he became office secretary of the greater Faridpur Chhatra League and, after passing higher secondary, was elected VP of the Rajendra College student union while in the first year of his degree. He said he was unable to sit for his degree examination later.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report