Chattogram Jail Intercom: Conversations Will Be Clearer

Date: March 7, 2026

With tearful eyes, on one side of the iron bars stands a father, and on the other side his beloved little princess. Because of a crime, the father is imprisoned. Little Ira has come to Chattogram Central Jail with her family to see him. Despite having so many words saved up for days, Ira could not say them. When families come to meet their imprisoned loved ones in the jail’s visitation room, the loud noise and crowd make it difficult to communicate. Amid the overwhelming commotion, Ira could not properly talk to her father. Heartbroken and upset, she sat quietly in disappointment. This scene caught the attention of Muhammad Nasir Uddin, Chairman of the Alhaj Shamsul Hoque Foundation.

In 2025, Muhammad Nasir Uddin was appointed as a Private Prison Inspector. During an on-site visit to the central jail, he realized this persistent problem. Following this observation, he proposed to the Senior Jail Superintendent and the Deputy Commissioner the establishment of an intercom telephone system in the prison’s visitation room with the support of the Alhaj Shamsul Hoque Foundation.

After receiving approval, a total of 32 intercom telephones were installed on both sides of the ground floor of the visitation room at Chattogram Central Jail—16 on each side. Among them, 12 are allocated for male inmates and the remaining 4 for female inmates. If government funding becomes available, the service will later be expanded to the second and third floors as well.

To ease the long-standing hardship of inmates and their families, the one-to-one intercom telephone system was officially inaugurated on Thursday, March 5, at 12:00 PM by the Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram, Mohammad Zahidul Islam Miah. The Alhaj Shamsul Hoque Foundation (ASH Foundation) provided the financial support to implement this initiative. The inauguration ceremony was also attended by Senior Jail Superintendent of Chattogram Central Jail, Md. Iqbal Hossain, and Chairman of ASH Foundation, Muhammad Nasir Uddin.

From now on, thousands of children like Ira will be able to speak openly with their fathers. Mothers will be able to talk to their son, and wives to their husbands with comfort and clarity—where the distance remains only in the walls, not in their relationships.