A teacher and coach at Yakub Ali Dubash Girls High School in Chittagong has shaved her head in protest of an alleged assault on the school’s girl Kabaddi team.
The incident came to light on Thursday, when the teacher, Zahida Parveen, posted a picture and alleged that the Kabaddi team was assaulted by the school’s headmistress, Nipa Chowdhury, for doing French braids for a photoshoot.
Zahida has also alleged that she was asked to resign from her post after she made the incident public on Facebook. However, school authorities denied the allegations.
She wrote in the caption: “My girls went for a Kabaddi competition after a month of hard practice, and the headmistress of the school assaulted them for doing French braids. I have shaved my head in protest, is it looking too bad?”
Later on Friday, Zahida told reporters that a 12-member Kabaddi team was scheduled to perform at thana level summer sports competition on September 8.
“Hair clips are not permitted under Kabaddi game regulations. Girls found it difficult to play as their hair always get in the way and that is why they did French braids,” she added.
According to the rules, pictures of participating teams must be submitted to the coordinator a day before the competition, and the team was only taking pictures for that reason. They also had a model test that day, she mentioned.
“When I went to the washroom, I heard the headmistress verbally assaulting some girls and also heard some of them crying. She also pulled the girls’ hair,” she added.
Zahida also noted that when she told the headmistress that it was her idea to let the girls do French braids, the headmistress also misbehaved with her.
She said because of a model test at the school, her Kabaddi team reached the venue 35 minutes late.
When they arrived at the pitch they were told that the opposition team was given a walkover, even though they had informed authorities that they would be late due to an exam.
In response to a question about why she informed everyone of the incident after so long, she said that she had fallen ill after the incident.
Meanwhile, the school's headmistress, Nipa Chowdhury, denied the allegations claiming that she did not scold or beat any student.
She said: “Naturally, I take photos with them. I advised them in advance that braiding like this (French style) would not work. Make the usual braids that you do at school. That's all I said. There was no violence or argument.”
Concerning the delay in attending the match following the exam, she said: “I did not force the students to take the exam. I informed the teacher (Zahida) that if the students don't participate in the test, they won’t be held accountable.”
“However, when she said that the students should take the exam, she informed the coordinator that the team would be a little late to the game,” the headmistress added.
In response to Zahida's resignation, Nipa Chowdhury said: “I did not place any pressure on her. Instead, she resigned seven to eight days ago, claiming that she is not qualified to teach. It is also a false allegation that she was not allowed to enter the school. The school has everything, including CCTV footage to prove that.”
In this regard, Kotwali thana Education Officer Md Ziaul Huda Siddique said: “I have informed the higher authorities. They will decide what kind of action will be taken.”
“She (Zahida) did not inform anyone that the team would be late. I have also heard that they were actually two hours late to the field.”
“We have heard that she has resigned. No one can be forced to resign from a post. We will investigate the matter,” he added.
