Several incidents have made headlines in recent times where members of the teaching community, the so-called “people-builders,” were found to be harassed. Many of them were physically abused, some of them faced imprisonment, while others were removed from the world forever.
There has been a lot of discussion, criticism, condemnation, and protest surrounding these incidents as people have analyzed and are making judgements on these incidents from various angles. However, whatever the cause may be, the bottom line is that some members of our teaching community, who are respected and venerated by all in the society, have come under physical and mental abuse.
We have always chanted that education is the backbone of any nation. No one has ever heard of any nation progressing in this world without progress in its education. Therefore, from time immemorial, in every society, educated people have always been looked up to. An example of this attitude can be found in the poem titled Shikhkha Gurur Morjada (the dignity of the teacher) by the poet Kazi Quader Newaj, where we see the great Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir, calling in his son’s teacher to express his disappointment about his son's lack of courteousness in seeing him not washing his teacher's feet with his own hands.
Even today, in a large section of society, teachers are not only respected by students, but also by their guardians. Here, not only does an exchange of knowledge take place between the teacher and student, but a kind of spiritual relationship is also allowed to develop. In such a society, if you see a teacher being physically abused, it is entirely normal to start worrying about what the future holds.
What would happen if such a teacher-minded society like ours suddenly turned against teachers? What is worth noting here is to dig into whether such incidents have some precedence or whether they’re a more recent development. Is it possible that such incidents have been going on for a long time and have only increased in frequency recently? All important questions to ask.
Many people think that sometimes the faculties of schools and colleges are forced to keep students who are no less than hooligans for strategic reasons, as a sort of protection against various pressures. It’s no big secret that there is, more often than we think, a sort of symbiotic relationship between bad teachers and classroom hooligans.
If that is the case, what is important is that any such incident should be taken seriously, and its underlying causes should be sought. In the light of the above discussion, it would not be unrealistic to think that in many places an uncomfortable atmosphere for teachers has been fomented for quite some time. However, it must be said that a system was in place for the teachers to somehow manage things in order to maintain their dignity.
Now what would happen if, suddenly, the miscreants started attacking them physically? In such cases, an unbiased hair-splitting analysis of each incident is required rather than simply lumping everything together in a linear fashion. It is necessary to understand whether the problem is unilateral, bilateral, or multilateral. Are bullied teachers necessarily victims of bullying, or are there some unwanted changes in them that are causing a strong reaction in some of the victimized students?
In some cases, there are allegations of political or communal links to these incidents. For example, with victims belonging to the minority community in several recent incidents, it is claimed by various quarters that the teachers affected have been harassed on communal grounds. On the other hand, there are counter allegations that they have hurt the religious sentiments of the majority community through some of their activities or even speech. The recent allegation that the principal of a college in Rajshahi was physically assaulted by a local member of parliament, if true, is certainly a cause for concern.
On the other hand, it has been seen in some cases that, even if a political or religious issue is brought forward to harass a teacher, it is not the real reason but more of an excuse for such incidents, a justification of sorts. The vested quarter was angry with the person concerned for some reason and was looking for a way to discipline him. Sometimes, it has also been seen that the incident is the result of a personal rivalry, but it is being campaigned on a political or communal basis.
Whatever the case may be, in the larger interests of the nation, it is important to ensure a calm, benign, and safe environment in our educational institutions. Why the traditional respect and dignity of teachers is under threat today must be found out through dispassionate analysis and impartial investigation and necessary initiatives must be taken to deal with it.
Regardless of the teacher and student, who is responsible for the incident needs to be confirmed first and foremost. Attempts to divert events for ulterior political or communal interests, in other words to shift blame to other people, will leave the real problem and its root causes unmasked. This will make it difficult to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. Keep in mind that a problem can get out of control later if proper measures are not taken to solve it now.
Dr Mohammad Didare Alam Muhsin is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacy, Jahangirnagar University.
