Chowdhury was born on 26 July 1983 into the family of former Chittagong mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury and Shaheda Mohiuddin. He completed his schooling in Bangladesh before pursuing higher education abroad, earning a joint bachelor's degree in Law and Anthropology from the London School of Economics (LSE) and completing the Bar Vocational Course at the University of Law.[11] Mohibul was enrolled at the University of Bath as a Professional Doctorate candidate in 2023.[12]
He was a member of Awami League's Chittagong City executive committee from 2012 to 2016 and was later promoted as an organising secretary.[13]
From 2016 to 2019, Chowdhury held the position of Organising Secretary of the Awami League's Central Committee. During his tenure in the secretarial body, he helped win the Narayanganj City Corporation election in 2016 which was the first city election with direct political party nomination in Bangladesh. He was one of the youngest organising secretaries of Awami League and was credited for managing the party in important districts such as Gazipur, Faridpur, Kishoreganj, Shariatpur, Gopalganj, etc. which districts are considered Awami League heartlands.[16] On 25 June 2018, he apologized to Bangladesh Election Commission for violating electoral code of conduct by participating in election campaign in Gazipur City Corporation as an outsider.[17][18]
Prior to his appointment to the Cabinet, he spent nine years practicing law as a member of both the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar and the Dhaka Bar Association. On 27 December 2019, he was removed from central executive committee of Awami League as part of the party's strategy to separate the government from the party.[19]
Policy initiatives
On 9 April 2021, Chowdhury said that the Bangladesh government might reconsider and cancel recognition of the highest degree from the Qwami Madrassa Board if the teaching of extreme religious interpretation is not regulated and basic academic standards are not met.[20]
Ministry of Education in Bangladesh was in the process of rolling out a TVET and STEAM based school curriculum to achieve the newly promoted political and economic objective, "Smart Bangladesh". Regarding the new curriculum, when he was Deputy Minister of Education Mohibul Chowdhury said there is a need to promote reading habits, implement continuous assessment methods and integrate essential soft skills and vocational education skills. Therefore conventional memory-based public exam-based assessments should be discarded and new curricullum should be implemented.[21]
One of the controversy in the proposed new curriculum was inclusion of third gender rights, reproductive health and mandatory science and maths education for all up to the age of 16. Staunchly secularist Mohibul defended inclusion of contents promoting rights of third gender and transgender people in textbooks after facing intense criticism from religious and political groups.[22] After protests about the inclusion of transgender Sharif's story in textbooks, Mohibul emphasised the importance of acknowledging legally recognised third gender community in society and ensuring that students are aware of this aspect of society. He had commented that this is just a rights issue of a gender minority but the conservative elements are trying to politicise the matter.[23]
Conservative religious leaders and pro Islamist academics have joined to remove educational contents seen as un-Islamic and demanded release of university teacher Asif Mahtab who protested inclusion of third gender/transgender contents in textbooks.[24] Religious and right wing political parties along with some academics have demanded revision of the new curriculam as Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim country. The new Education Advisor Wahiduddin Mahmud of the 2024 interim government of Bangladesh, following ouster of Mohibul as Education Minister and the entire government of Sheikh Hasina, have decided to scrap the new curriculum in favour of the old curriculum of 2012.[25]
Chowdhury was responsible for a forceful takeover of Premier University in Chittagong by abusing his authority in the Education Ministry.[26] An NBR report found out that he embezzled university funds and ran an illegal tobacco business worth crores of takas.[27] The BFIU froze his and his family's bank accounts on August 20, 2024.[28] The Anti-Corruption Commission found evidence of more than Tk 211.20 crore worth of suspicious transactions in various of his bank accounts and amassing significant wealth beyond his known sources of income.[29] On January 20, 2025, a Dhaka court ordered the seizure of his tax files after a petition by the ACC.[30]
It was seen as Mohibul's failure to protect university students when BCL goons attacked the quota protesters of Dhaka University on 15 July 2024.[31][32] Mohibul was responsible for shutting down schools, colleges, universities and university residential halls during the July–August Student Protests which was seen as an attempt to contain the protests.[33][34][35] Violence was done by police to force students to leave the residential halls.[36]
Chowdhury has been implicated in a murder case related to the death of a college student, Tanvir Siddiqui, during quota reform protests in Chittagong.[37] The case, filed by the victim's uncle, accuses Chowdhury, along with former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 32 others, of orchestrating an attack on peaceful protesters on 18 July 2024.[38] During the protest, unidentified assailants allegedly attacked students with firearms and other weapons, resulting in Tanvir being shot and later dying in the hospital.[39]
This incident is part of a larger pattern of violence associated with the protests, which have led to multiple fatalities.[40]
Several activists from the Bangladesh Chhatra League, Jubo League, and Awami League in Chittagong have referred Chowdury as their political mentor following the death of his father, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury. At the University of Chittagong, two Chhatra League factions, known as the “Choose Friends with Care (CFC)” and “Bijoy” groups, reportedly claim affiliation with Mohibul and are in conflict with the “VFX” group aligned with AJM Nasir Uddin. Mohibul has publicly denied involvement with these factions and condemned any inappropriate activities conducted in his name.[41][42][43]
Analysts have noted that such factional rivalries in Chittagong politics date back to earlier divisions between ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury and Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu, and that current tensions are continuations of these historic disputes. Similar factional divides have also appeared among doctors and medical students at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, occasionally resulting in violent clashes between groups reportedly aligned with Mohibul and AJM Nasir Uddin.[44][45][46]
Mohibul has repeatedly distanced himself from any criminal or violent acts carried out in his or his late father’s name and has warned that those involved in such activities will face academic and legal consequences.[47]
In February 2023, Avijit Das, a Chhatra League cadre/activist and a medical student along with his fellow students who were alleged to be unverified followers of Mohibul tortured 4 students of Chittagong Medical College to the extent that 2 of them were admitted in ICU.[48] Avijit admitted of 'quizzing' them only but journalists have found them in critical condition with marks all over the body. Mohibul never condoned the act, nor did he take any action despite being the education minister.[49][50] Following this incident Mohibul has condoned and criticized all criminal acts done using his or his political party's name in either the Chittagong Medical College or in any other institution and called for impartial investigation against all alleged criminals.[51]
In November 2020, during nationwide violent and fatal protests in Bangladesh led by Islamic fundamentalist groups like Hefazat-e-Islam, Islami Andolan and others, opposing the construction of sculptures and demanding demolitions in the wake of the building of a sculpture of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Mohibul warned extremist elements that his "Awami League government has the capacity to be inclusive by embracing you (rioters) along the shoulder, but if you cross the limit and continue to cause havoc, my government also has the capacity to twist your necks and eliminate you."[52]
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