The Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB) has expressed deep concern over the arrest of a school headmaster in Kushtia's Kumarkhali on charges of hurting religious sentiments and condemned the attack and vandalism at his home.
At the same time, the rights organization demanded action against those concerned subject to a fair investigation.
Abu Saleh, the head teacher of Kaya Child Haven Lower Secondary Girls' School, was arrested on the morning of February 23 from his house in Kushtia in a case of hurting religious sentiments.
On February 24, a mob held a protest march and rally demanding the death penalty for the teacher and vandalized his house.
According to his family, he was framed in a conspiracy as his wife Nilufar Yasmin Lilly, the head teacher of a local kindergarten school, had been pressurized to become a member of Jamaat-e-Islami and allow the party to hold mahfil at the school.
Nilufar Yasmin said that since she did not agree, there was a conspiratorial attempt to discipline her husband by filing a case against him on a sensitive matter.
The HRFB added that this incident is not isolated. “It is only a plot against the teacher's family, but is part of a larger conspiracy to establish the educational institutions as a base for developing communalism,” said the press release.
Nilufar Yasmin said that almost the same type of harassing behavior had been observed with the teachers of different schools in the country for some time, which is unacceptable. In all the cases, the teachers are being sued. “Harassment of teachers would have been reduced to a certain extent if the cases had been filed after an investigation,” she added.
The HRFB said the instigators of the recent incidents had remained out of touch and even got protection and indulgence in various ways.
