Classes hampered as market sits on school ground

A village market occupies the common ground of Bangali Government Primary School and Baushi Bangali High School and College at Baushi Bazar in Sarishabari municipality under the district every Sunday and Wednesday, hampering classes for years.

Meanwhile, the principal of Baushi Bangali High School and College cannot attend his office for the last three weeks as the lessee of the market threatened him, following his initiative to remove the haat from the institution premises.

Bangali Government Primary School has 493 students from pre-primary to Class V and Baushi Bangali High School and College has currently 1176 students from Classes VI to XII, said sources of the two institutions, both situated with in a single boundary.   

As a portion of Baushi Haat (a village market) sits from 12:00pm to 6:30pm on the ground two days a week, noise disturbs classes in the afternoon hours, and the students, especially small children and girls, face problem while returning to their houses after the classes due to huge gathering there, said teachers.

Babu Talukdar, lessee of Baushi Haat since last year, has been using the ground for the haat on Sunday and Wednesday without permission of the institutions' authorities, alleged Shafiqul Islam, principal of Baushi Bangali School and College, also president of the government primary school's managing committee.

Babu is also cultural affairs secretary of Sarishabari upazila unit of Awami League.

"Mansur Rahman, organizing secretary of the municipality unit of AL, and Abdul Malek, member of the upazila unit of Jubo League, who are also members of the school and college managing committee, are shareholders of the lease," he said. 

“As per advice of Gias Uddin Pathan, president of the school and college managing committee, I formally served a notice to the bidder requesting him to shift the haat from the ground on April 4, but he did not receive it,” he said.

“Failing to get the problem solved, I discussed the issue with a high official of the education ministry and the ministry issued a letter to the deputy commissioner (DC) of Jamalpur with a directive to take necessary steps on April 25,” he added.

"Aggrieved due to the initiative to shift the haat, lessee Babu Talukdar accompanying Mansur and Malek, and his men equipped with sharp weapons entered my office around 11:30am on May 2 and forced me to put signatures on three Tk 100 stamps, containing a 'written agreement text' that lets the bidder use the ground for holding the two-day haat legally," says a case statement filed by the principal with a senior judicial magistrate's court on May 5.

"They also forced me out of the principal's office and threatened me of dire consequences if I try to enter the office," it adds.

Ten people including Babu Talukdar, Mansur and Malek, were made accused in the case filed by the principal.

“I dare not enter my office in fear of attack by the men of Babu Talukdar,” the principal told this correspondent.

Contacted, Babu Talukdar refuted all the allegations brought against him and his men and claimed that the said ground of the institutions has been used as a portion of Baushi Haat for about 50 years.

Md Shahabuddin Khan, DC of Jamalpur, said as per directive of the Ministry of Education, he has asked the local administration to settle the issue peacefully through discussions with all the local stakeholders.