N'ganj teacher did not demean Islam

An education ministry probe has found that the Piyar Sattar Latif High School committee had forced headteacher Shyamal Kanti Bhakta to resign with unproven allegation that he had hurt the religious sentiment of the Muslims.

The allegation brought against Shyamal of demeaning Islam was not found to be true, the probe body said, adding that relevant rules were not followed in suspending Shyamal and therefore he could be reinstated.

The three-member probe committee handed over its report to the attorney general's office yesterday for placing it before the High Court, which on May 18 issued a suo moto rule asking the authorities concerned to report what steps had been taken against the people responsible for the humiliation of the teacher.

On May 13, AKM Salim Osman, the lawmaker of Narayanganj-5, was seen instructing Shyamal to do squats holding his ears, a punishment considered humiliating in Bangladesh.

Before that, Shaymal was beaten up by a mob.

It was not the end to the teacher's sufferings as the school committee on May 17 suspended him on the allegation that he had demeaned the religion.

In the report, the probe body said student Rifat Hasan, who claimed that Shyamal demeaned Islam, had made inconsistent statements on different occasions, said Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Sazu who received the report.

The report said the allegation against the school teacher may be considered unacceptable since Rifat's statements before the school committee and the media, and his mother's statements before the media were inconsistent.

The report was signed by two of the three people in the committee -- its chief Prof Yusuf Ali, director of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, and member Abdus Zaman, Narayanganj education officer.

According to the probe committee, announcements from the horn speakers of a local mosque had incited people against the headmaster and changed the situation.          

It said there was a longstanding dispute between the headmaster and the school committee over financial issues and no initiative had been taken to resolve it.

A further probe can be conducted into the financial feud by the people who have knowledge about finance, the report said.

Sazu told The Daily Star that he would submit the report before the HC on May 29, when the court might hold a hearing on the issue.

He said the officer-in-charge of Bandar Police Station has filed a general diary in connection with the humiliation of the teacher and an investigation was ongoing.

The police headquarters had formed another probe committee, led by additional deputy inspector general of police Mahbubur Rahman.

Deputy Commissioner of Narayanganj also constituted a probe body led by an upazila education officer.

Reports on the progress of their probes would be submitted before the HC on May 29, said DAG Sazu.