A Chittagong court yesterday sent 13 schoolteachers to jail in a sedition case filed for “defaming” Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a question paper.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Sazzad Hossain of Banshkhali passed the order after the accused had appeared before the court. The magistrate rejected the bail prayers of the accused, Alamgir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Banshkhali Police Station, told The Daily Star.

On July 19 last year, Bangabandhu was compared with a local union parishad chairman in a question in the Bangladesh O Bishwa Porichoy examination of class nine. The sedition case was filed with the police station on April 12 this year, the OC said.

According to Alamgir, the filing of the case was delayed as it took time to get permission from the government.

Assistant Teacher Dukul Barua of Banshkhali Bangabandhu Uccha Bidyalaya was named as the prime accused in the case as he was involved in preparing the question paper.

The rest of the accused were members of a committee which was involved in formulating question papers for school exams, said police and court sources.

Talking to this correspondent yesterday, Gondamara Union Parishad Chairman Liakat Ali, also a local BNP leader, said he didn't see the question paper which stated his name, but he heard about the matter from local people.

He said comparing him with a leader like Bangabandhu should be regarded as an “audacious act”.