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Hossain Roman Khondker is no longer working in his position as a Board Member for the Connecticut Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity (CWCSEO), an organization established by Public Act No. 19-117 to inform and engage policy makers about constituent needs for women, children and their families, seniors and the African American, Asian Pacific-American, Latino and Puerto Rican populations in Connecticut.
Like so many others before him, Roman ran a spicy social media account.
How spicy you might wonder?
Well, the posts ranged from supporting MAGA and Donald Trump to retweeting a man he's always admired, democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.
Mr. Khondker said Israel was not a "real place" but rather a "fake country" and calls the Israeli government "the new generation nazis" and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "genocidal maniac."
He says the "Israeli way" is to be proud of humanitarian violations, and calls both the Israeli government and Hamas terrorist organizations. He wants all "occupiers" to leave Palestine, including Israel, Egypt, and Jordan. And he accuses Israel of both committing war crimes and playing the victim card at the same time.
Mr. Khondker believes that the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" was just a saying popularized in the 1960's and that it has always been used to push for the freedom of Palestine from any occupying land, whether that's Israel or other Arab regimes, such as Jordan or Egypt.
He doesn't believe it means the eradication of Jewish people, though one has to wonder what exactly happens to the "oppressors" should Palestine be "freed" from their grips.
He accused Israel of killing "mainly children and innocent civilians" and feels as though the unrest shouldn't be a surprise considering that "Palestinian home owners were moved from their houses to house the refugees who are now known as Israeli."
He suggested that anyone would be upset if "someone came to your house removed you and housed a Syrian refugee there" but he actually does want a two-state solution.
And that was just yesterday!
Mr. Khondker, a Muslim refugee from Bangladesh who describes his Islamic faith as one of "love and tolerance", says he's always been a Republican and even worked as a Trump2020 Social Media Director for nearly a year, from January 2020 through November 2020.
But at the same time, he's expressed strong support for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders; Connecticut State Senator Majority Leader Bob Duff (D), who originally appointed Mr. Khondker to the CWCSEO as a teenager; and Governor Ned Lamont (D).
It was legal counsel to Senator Duff who informed Mr. Khondker about the decision not to reappoint him to the Commission.
There is, however, disagreement over when that decision was made.
The Centinal contacted the Commission on Wednesday, January 17th, after getting tagged in a tweet that featured a number of Mr. Khondker's controversial comments.
The receptionist indicated that Mr. Khondker did not work in the office, as he was a Board Member, but she offered to share his email address. She made no indication whatsoever that Mr. Khondker was not a member of the Board. And she did provide the correct email address.
Mr. Khondker, a very polite and friendly 24-year-old from West Haven, CT, responded to the Centinal's media inquiry. First, he confirmed the authenticity of his X account and said he stood by all of his tweets.
Then he was asked to respond to social media rumors that he was no longer a member of the board.
At 10:53 am on Thursday, January 18th, Mr. Khondker responded to the Centinal by saying, "as far as my knowledge goes yes" in response to the question about the status of his Board position. Then at 11:09am, Mr. Khondker forwarded the Centinal a screenshot of an email from Alex Slaney, legal counsel to Senator Duff, indicating that Senator Duff had decided not to reappoint Mr. Khondker to the CWCSEO Board.
This timeline directly contradicts an exchange on X between independent investigative journalist George Colli and Mr. Khondker regarding the status of Mr. Khondker's Board position after the controversial social media posts were discovered.
Mr. Khondker's Linked In profile still indicates, as of January 19th, that he is employed as a CWCSEO Commissioner.
If he had indeed left last year as he told George Colli on X, why not reflect that change in his Linked In profile? After all, Mr. Khondker most recently updated his profile in November 2023. It's not exactly a dormant, forgotten account.
Calls and emails to Senator Duff's office remain unanswered at this time.
Governor Lamont does not have any authority over the Commission, nor does he appoint any of its members, so his office had no further comment on the matter.
Subsequent calls to the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity are going straight to voice mail today.
Why is that?
And what's next for Mr. Khondker since he's clearly out as Commissioner?
Well, he said he's working to form a coalition to address "inequities" in Connecticut.
Specifically, he alleges that the state has been accepting Israeli refugees but not Palestinian refugees and he aims to address that perceived inequity. He says the biggest issue he faces going forward is that he believes "a majority of politicians in Hartford are Islamaphobic" and prejudiced against his religion. He says this prejudice against Islam can also be evidenced in the ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs in China, for instance.
"Every culture is beautiful," Mr. Khondker says. "We should all get to know one another."
Of course calling those whom you oppose "nazis" who are led by a "genocidal maniac" from a "fake state" doesn't exactly exude a kumbaya, 'let's get to know one another' kind of vibe, does it?
