No cheers for Joy

Youth and sports ministry officials are left frustrated for what they said was "continuous misbehavior" by Deputy Minister Arif Khan Joy.

They alleged Joy had ransacked the room of a joint secretary of his ministry on Sunday as his name was not included in the banner as a guest at a national youth day programme. 

Joy lost his temper during the programme at the capital's Osmani Memorial Auditorium when he saw the name of State Minister for Youth and Sports Biren Sikder was written on the banner as chief guest, according to ministry officials and eyewitnesses.

Leaving the programme, he then returned to the ministry and ransacked Joint Secretary Masukh Miah's room. He also shouted at a few officials, they said.

Talking to several officials and staffs of the ministry, The Daily Star yesterday learnt that Sunday's incident was not the first time they were at the receiving end of Joy's wrath.

At least three officials of the ministry, two of them directors of two projects with the rank of deputy secretaries, took transfer orders to other ministries in the last few months for Joy's "misbehaviour".

Mashuk Mia and a few other officials, too, are now trying to get transferred to other ministries, officials said.

Asked about Joy's "misbehaviour", Sports Secretary Nur Mohammad yesterday said, "Misunderstandings happen when two people work together and those can be resolved at times."

Reflecting on Sunday's incident, he said, “The deputy minister got angry as his name was not in the banner of the national youth day programme at Osmani Memorial Auditorium.

“As the prime minister did not come to the programme, the state minister was the chief guest. The deputy minister asked some officials as to why his name was not in the banner. Being angry, he tried to leave the programme venue a few times. But we tried to manage him.

At one stage he came out of the auditorium and came back to the ministry. Later we heard that he vandalised the room of a joint secretary. It was shameful for us.”

The secretary said he had immediately informed the matter to his higher authorities including the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister's office. Asked whether he got any response from them, he said he was yet to get any official instruction to this effect.

There is also allegation that during a tour to the 65th congress of FIFA at Zurich in Switzerland in May this year he led a five-member delegation but left one of them behind illegally.

Joy included Shelim Uddin by introducing him as the delegation coordinator and a member of Bianibazar Sporting Club. As Shelim did not come back, rumour has it that he was left behind illegally, ministry sources said adding that this incident has badly tarnished the image of the ministry as well as the country.

Swiss embassy granted Shelim visa with the condition that Shelim would have to report to the embassy before June 9. As Shelim did not do so, the embassy wrote to the foreign ministry twice to look into the matter seriously. The foreign ministry wrote to the sports ministry but could not elicit any satisfactory response, ministry sources said.

Shelim was neither a member of Bianibazar Sporting Club nor a coordinator of the delegation, they said.

Foreign and sports ministry officials handed this correspondent all the relevant documents that demonstrate that the claims made by the Swiss embassy are true.

The Daily Star went to the deputy minister's office to have his comments over the allegations, but he did not come to office yesterday. This correspondent called him more than 10 times on his two  cell phone numbers, but failed to reach him. Finally, a text message was sent to him, which too was not replied by the deputy minister.

Joy, however, told reporters on Sunday, that he had no involvement with the joint secretary's room vandalism. Some people had broken the joint secretary's computer and were spreading rumours to taint his image, he claimed.

He also alleged that none in the ministry, including a few joint secretaries, helped him. Terming the officials corrupt, he alleged that bribes were paid for the appointment and transfer of officials in the different organisations and departments under the ministry.

Joy, however, told The Daily Star earlier that he had been sidelined in the ministry from the very beginning. He said most of the files were not sent to him and the state minister and the secretary signed them keeping him in the dark.