Welcome to the Mirzapur Ex-cadets’ Association of North America (MECANA). We are a community of alumni from Mirzapur Cadet College (MCC) located in Tangail, Bangladesh. MECANA was registered in the US as a nonprofit organization in 2015 (EIN 47-5134903).
MECANA is not a typical alumni association because MCC is not a mere Alma Mater for its ex-cadets. It is a home where they spent six of their developmental years in an extremely competitive environment to receive the best of education, intense physical training and lessons in discipline. In that home, cadets live together like brothers, developing a life-long endearing relationship. Currently, over 500 MCC ex-cadets live in the USA and Canada. Having achieved notable academic distinctions and professional recognition, many now have the ability to repay their debt to their Alma Mater with a sense of gratitude and appreciation. MECANA and its adjunct website, will facilitate that benevolent gesture.
MECANA intends to fund an Endowment for MCC through generous contributions from ex-cadets living in North America, in order to improve the quality of the facilities at MCC as well as the overall wellbeing of the cadets.
BACKGROUND AND FORMATION:
Several MCC ex-cadets took the initiative and devoted their time and effort, relentlessly pursuing the formation of MECANA and construction of this website. The task was especially daunting and at times frustrating because ex-cadets are living all across the USA and Canada. Please take a minute to go through the following brief history of what transpired from the day the idea of this organization and its associated website was conceived until its final completion.
While individual batches have organized reunions of their batch mates from time-to- time over the years, the idea of forming one organization to represent all MCC ex-cadets living in the USA and Canada was not taken up seriously until February 2015 when Azharul Huq (3/105), Faruque Azam (3/130), Nasiruzzaman Rizvi (11/563), Sabbir Huque (11/579), Meer Md. Mizanur Rahman (14/771), Atiqur Rahman (17/904), Mohammad Ali Siddiquee (17/925), among others, took the initiative of arranging a reunion in New Jersey. The reunion was attended by over 50 ex-cadets along with their families who came from many geographical locations. The program was an outstanding success, and especially noteworthy was the move to start the process of forming an association. Yousuf H Rahman (2/6) who happened to be the senior-most ex-cadet present in that meeting was unanimously chosen to be the Convener.
Soon thereafter, the first meeting was held on March 25, 2015 in downtown Manhattan, to discuss the technical details and steps necessary for constructing a website which Yousuf Rahman stressed should be the stepping stone for this project. Yousuf (2/6), Rizvi (11/563), Meer Mizan (14/771), Atiq (17/904) and Siddiquee (17/925) attended the meeting. Following that meeting, Rizvi registered a website domain under the name “mecana.org” and the seed money for its registration and monthly charges for the domain was provided by Meer Mizan.
Yousuf used his contacts to put together a website subcommittee consisting of 15 ex-cadets with IT background from all across North America and in that sub-committee at least two members were identified as owning IT firms and directly capable of constructing websites. Following the meeting, Yousuf along with Meer Mizan spent hours reaching out to the ex-cadets to get them involved. Yousuf also informed Brigadier General Sultan Iqbal (4/172), President of Mirzapur Ex-Cadets’ Association (MECA) about the initiative and requested MECA’s official recognition of the creation of MECANA. Yousuf received a green light from everyone he contacted.
Several meetings, telephone calls and email exchanges ensued to discuss the design of the website. Three members of the subcommittee [Sayedul Hassan Choudhury (14/758), Shoeb Ahmed (28/1513) and Zulfikar Ali (28/1518)] were identified as having the right resource and skills to construct the website while the rest of the sub-committee members were expected to continue to provide advice and support. In August of 2015, Shoeb hosted an Eid Reunion in Philadelphia with the idea of also holding a quick meeting. At that meeting Zulfikar was entrusted with constructing the website and Shoeb was asked to coordinate the work. A decision was also reached to officially register the association as a nonprofit organization. Meer Mizan, a practicing attorney was asked by the Convener to complete the registration and ensure that all legal requirements are fully adhered to.
Immediately thereafter, Meer Mizan completed the requirements to incorporate “MIRZAPUR EX-CADETS’ ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA” (MECANA) causing the Association to have a formal shape as an Entity, duly registered as a Nonprofit Corporation, as the legal/official Alumni Association of the former students of Mirzapur (and the erstwhile Momenshahi) Cadet College residing in North America, and had it duly filed and Registered on September 23, 2015 [ID Number: 0450019383 (NJ)]. As Incorporator of the Association, Meer Mizan became a Trustee, along with Yousuf and Atiq.
Meer Mizan also obtained an EIN from the Internal Revenue Service of the United States Department of Treasury on the same date (EIN Number: 47-5134903).
While on a trip to Bangladesh in September 2015, the Convener met with Brig. Gen. Sultan Iqbal, President of MECA and members of his team. The meeting in Dhaka was also attended by Major General Abul Kalam Md. Humayun Kabir (10/488), Khaled Ahmed Khondker (10/505), Mohammad Nazmul Hasan Akanda (31/1705), Sakif Ahsan (37/1968) and Md. Rashiduzzaman Rayhan (42/2258). In that meeting MECA agreed to provide all the necessary support towards the formation and progression of MECANA.
With new vigor, another get together was organized in New York City on December 13, 2015. At that event, Yousuf announced the formation of an ad-hoc Board of Advisers with Shafiq Chaudhuri (2/4) as the Chief Adviser and an ad-hoc Working Committee with Meer Mizan as the Chief Coordinator. The earlier formed ad-hoc Website subcommittee would continue to provide its support to Zulfikar who had already taken on the responsibility of constructing the MECANA website. It was also announced and accepted by all present that both the Ad hoc Board of Advisers and Ad hoc Working Committee will be replaced by officially elected members at a Gala Reunion where the Bylaws would also be ratified after the first election.