The mobile phone operator Grameenphone, issued a SIM card to Bahar Uddin, who could not buy a SIM card as he could not give a fingerprint. Last Wednesday, Grameenphone officials handed over the SIM card to Mr. Bahar in a small ceremony at Prothom Alo’s Chittagong office. Bahar accepted the SIM card with a photocopy of his passport as proof of identity.
The SIM card was handed over by Grameenphone’s Chittagong Circle Retail Head Sakhawat Hossain Chowdhury, Experience Manager Md. Al Mamun and Experience Expert Rajiv Kumar Ghosh.
Regarding the handing over of the SIM card, Grameenphone Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Yasir Ajman said, “We are happy to present the SIM card to Bahar Uddin. We believe that communication technology is the right of every human being in the country. Grameenphone will always be by his side to meet that demand.”
Bahar Uddin is a fourth year student of the history department of Chittagong University. He lost both his hands in 2004 after being in an accident that left him electrocuted and needing amputation. After being admitted to the university, he could apply and receive his own national identity card and passport, but when he went to buy a SIM card in his own name, he faced a roadblock, since a SIM card registrations required fingerprints by regulation.