A Munshiganj court has granted bail to schoolteacher Hriday Chandra Mondal in a case filed over “hurting religious sentiment” as he discussed the distinction between science and religion during a class with grade-ten students.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Motaharat Akter Bhuiyan passed the order on Sunday.
Earlier, Hriday was denied bail twice—once on March 23 and again on March 28.
Coming out of jail after 19 days on bail granted, Hriday, 52, left for Dhaka at around 5pm to a relative’s house due to illness. He told journalists that he was framed because of internal conflicts in the school.
Hriday also urged the government to ensure the safety and security of his family.
Babita expressed satisfaction with the bail order. She hoped that no other teacher in Bangladesh would have to experience what her husband had to go through.
In response to a question, Hriday told reporters he still could not figure out why such a case was filed in the first place.
“I did not say anything insulting any religion that day. It may be due to internal conflicts in the school or over private tutoring,” he added.
The teacher believed that he was kept in jail for security reasons. However, he was happy about getting out on bail.
Advocate Shahin Mohammad Amanullah, legal counsel for the accused, stressed that Hriday had not said anything to his students in class that would hurt religious sentiment.
“The accusations made by the plaintiff in the case have not been substantiated… I hope Hriday Chandra Mondal will be released from jail by this [Sunday] evening,” he added.
Meanwhile, the prosecution said it was not unhappy with the court order. “But as this is a free country...anyone can lodge a case over blasphemy,” Public Prosecutor Advocate Sirajul Islam Paltu said.
On March 20, in response to queries during a class at Binodpur Ram Kumar High School in Munshiganj, Hriday Mondal told his students that “religion is a matter of faith” while “science looks at evidence”, according to an audio recording shared on social media.
The teacher said: “There is no evidence in religion. Religion in the end says God will take care of everything. Religion offers memorized words whereas science shows evidence.”
On March 22, two days after the recording was made, the school’s headteacher told the media that students and other people from the community were demonstrating inside and outside the school calling for the teacher’s punishment. The mob also attacked his house with bricks and sticks, and hurled abuses.
Police took the teacher into custody, and later that day, an office assistant of the school filed the case with the police.
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Why was he targeted?
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Babita Howlader said on Saturday: “He was attacked just one-and-half-month before this incident.”
She said that her husband had been harassed even before the allegations were leveled against him, and weeks ago, some people hurled brick chips at him.
Before the pandemic, Hriday Mondal used to rent three rooms to provide private tuition to students. After the number of students declined during the pandemic, he started teaching at home.
“A lot of teachers did not like it that he had so many students. Some students too,” she said.
Mondal’s brother-in-law Babul Howlader said: “School teachers have advised us to not let his son go to the school until he gets bail.”
He reiterated that they were bound to stay home, living in fear with the doors and windows always closed.
Babita claims that someone from the outside instigated the students to do this.
“The day he was arrested, I went to the police station. I saw Headteacher Alauddin Ahmed and another boy there. I left after that,” she said.
She added that no one from the school’s managing committee got in touch with them after the incident, and Alauddin was the only one who checked in on them regularly.
Condemnations
The incident has created a huge outcry on social media, with rights groups and activists staging protests condemning the arrest, which raises concerns about the ability of academics to teach.
Eminent writer and academician Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal demanding the release of Hriday Mondal said: “I couldn’t believe that a teacher has been arrested by the government for giving the most rational answer to a question of his student.”
Hridoy Chandra Mondal’s wife Babita Hawlader is seen on the premises of Munshiganj District and Sessions Judge Court on Sunday, April 10, 2022 Dhaka TribuneHe added: "We have to teach our children science with utmost care for the sake of the development of our country, because development is impossible without science. Science teacher Hriday Mondal has been made the scapegoat of the communal people for doing his duty of teaching the subject."
Dhaka University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) in a statement said that the case appeared to be motivated since it was filed against the elderly teacher by a fourth-grade employee in a hurry.
“Apart from this, it is also mysterious to file a case under the non-bailable section in a hurry. Plaintiff's lawyer saying that the security of the teacher’s life could be threatened if bail is granted now is worrisome,” DUTA said.
London-based rights body Amnesty International and Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) have also demanded the immediate release of the science teacher.
“It is outrageous that a teacher finds himself behind bars simply for voicing his opinion while teaching a class. Teachers should be free to discuss ideas and opinions of all kinds without fear of reprisals,” said Smriti Singh, deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International.
“Hriday Chandra Mondal’s detention is emblematic of a disturbing trend in Bangladesh, where the space for free expression is rapidly shrinking. Detaining a teacher for simply discussing ideas in class sets a dangerous precedent where even challenging students to think critically can now land someone in jail.”
Also read - Dhaka University teachers demand release of Munshiganj science teacher
Supreme Court lawyer Advocate ZI Khan, a member of the BLAST trustee board, said: "The audio record of the incident has not been properly assessed, and action has been taken against the teacher without proper investigation into the incident."