Allow me to teach in a school in Dhaka: Hriday Mondal urges Govt

Hriday Mondal, a teacher of Binodpur Ram Kumar High School in Munshiganj Sadar, said that he will try to stay on as a teacher in the school only if the government provides him with full security, but if it could not, it will not be possible for him to continue doing his job.

He said, "The police can't provide security all the time. My family members have been socially humiliated for a long time. They are also threatened in many ways. If this continues, it will not be possible to stay here in this school."

"I have a request to the government: to allow me to teach in a school in Dhaka, and outside the district (Munshiganj). I want to continue my profession," he said.

Hriday Mondal said this while talking on the school premises after meeting with the enquiry committee of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education today.

The committee was formed on April 12. From 10 am to 4:30 pm, Abdul Hai Talukdar, head of the Government Haraganga College, talked to the headmaster of the school, Hriday Chandra Mondal, managing committee members and students.

There was police security at the school entrance during the quizzing. Hriday Mondal was at the office room of the headmaster where the investigation was conducted.

Hriday Mondal said, "I have been in jail for 19 days with thieves, robbers and criminals. They also became almost my students."

"I'll reply to the show cause next Monday. If the school committee permits, I will join my job on that day," he added.

"Doing the job is an uncertainty for me now," he said, adding, "Usually, there is no guarantee to do this job again in that school. Because my family members have been coming under attack."

He said: "At night (miscreants) still knocked on the door and windows. Outsiders threaten when they go out of the house. We have to stay here, confined to the house. How long can we stay in fear?"

"A long time ago, the school staff threw brick chips at me. The incident happened then due to a dispute over a calculation. These issues were reported to the school authorities several times but all went in vain," he said.

His wife, Babita Hawlader, said: "If we are socially humiliated, we cannot live here. If the government or the Ministry of Education allows my husband to do his job in a school in Dhaka, it will be safer for him."

"Several incidents have happened even after he got out on bail. My mother has been threatened. The house help has also been threatened on her way to our house. Police can't provide us with security all the time," she added.

Babita's elder brother Badal Hawlader said, "We are worried about our family's security. We are a minority in this society."

Hriday Mondal was released on bail Monday afternoon (April 11, 2022), after spending 19 days behind bars on charges of "hurting religious sentiments".