Ministers, teachers and leaders of the Hindu community and of social, cultural and political organisations continued their protests yesterday over the “despicable and unpardonable” public humiliation of a Narayanganj headmaster on Friday by local Jatiya Party (JP) lawmaker AKM Salim Osman.

Apart from arrest and exemplary punishment, many demanded that Salim be stripped of his parliamentary membership, JP take organisational action and Shyamal Kanti Bhakta's suspension by the school managing committee be withdrawn.

Headmaster of Piyar Sattar Latif High School in Bandar area, Shyamal was beaten up by a mob and made to do squats holding his ears.

He told The Daily Star that locals were provoked by false allegations that he had made disparaging statements about religion and that a group of teachers of the school held a grudge against him.

“He (Salim) failed to uphold the dignity of a parliamentarian,” Health Minister Mohammed Nasim told journalists at the Awami League (AL) president's political office in the capital's Dhanmondi.

Salim's role cannot be supported, said Nasim, also the spokesperson of the ruling AL-led 14-party alliance, adding, “It was unjust...he (Shyamal) should be reinstated.”

Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu termed it “an act of incivility”. “Law is not for mass people to misuse,” he told journalists in Sylhet after a visit to the shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal.

He said the government would take necessary steps to find the truth and ensure justice for the teacher, reports our Sylhet correspondent.

Bangladesh College-University Teachers Association forms another at the base of Raju Memorial at Dhaka University, protesting the public humiliation of a Narayanganj headmaster on May 13 by local Jatiya Party lawmaker AKM Salim Osman, and demanding punishment for the perpetrator. Photo: Star

AL lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta told journalists at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban that the government must take action after an investigation. “Such despicable acts cannot be accepted. We must protect the dignity of teachers,” he said.

Addressing Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad's human chain in front of the capital's Jatiya Press Club, its Adviser Rana Dasgupta accused Selim of leading the mob.

“By doing this, Salim Osman lost the quality of being a lawmaker and undermined the image of the parliament before the nation,” said Rana, also the general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad.

He said though Law Minister Anisul Huq had announced punishing the perpetrators, the government was yet to take any action. “If the state does not take any action, we will take it that we have been cheated,” he added.

The puja parishad General Secretary Tapash Kumar Pal demanded effective government steps to end the trend of attacking minorities through the spread of rumours that derogatory comments had been made against Islam.

Speakers said people of minority communities would stage demonstrations tomorrow protesting ongoing attacks and torture on them across the country.

Talking to journalists in Narayanganj, Zonayed Saki, convener of Gono Sanghati Andolon, condemned Salim's attempts to defend himself through a press conference.

“Humiliating a teacher is no less an offence than committing a murder,” he said, alleging that the government was yet to take action against the perpetrators, reports our Narayanganj correspondent.

Holding protest rallies and issuing statements, Taqi Mancha, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal and Gono Sanghati Andolon demanded arrest of others involved.

At a protest rally in front of Narayanganj Press Club, CPB Narayanganj unit President Hafizul Islam said, “It seems that indemnity has been given to lawmaker Salim Osman and his men”.

He alleged that police barred their protest rally on the Narayanganj Central Shaheed Minar premises.

Taqi Mancha Convener Rafiur Rabbi said the humiliation was unthinkable in a civilised country. “The incident bowed our heads (in shame),” he said in a statement.

Some 100 teachers under the banner of Bangladesh College-University Teachers Association formed a human chain at the base of the Raju sculpture in Dhaka University protesting the incident.

In statements, Jagannath University Teachers' Association and Shamajik Protirodh Committee expressed shock and condemned the incident.