Question paper blames it on women’s clothes

Do clothes women wear make them targets of harassment? Well, that is what a question paper in a well-known Dhaka school seems to suggest.

Several students of this girls’ school said they were embarrassed by the question, and many believe it may leave a scar on their minds.

The Holy Cross Girls’ High School held the test for Islamic Religion in its first term exam on Monday. 

Question No. 5 of the 50-mark paper refers to a woman’s dress as a source of provocation for harassment.

The question constructs the following episode and bases allied questions on it:

“Sanjida’s manners, the way she dresses, and the way she speaks are in good taste, and everyone treats her well.

“On the other hand, her colleague Rumana is in the habit of wearing tight clothes. She puts on T-shirts and jeans to take part in the Baishakhi celebrations and other fairs.

“Her behaviour lacks restraint, and she often finds herself in trouble. Boys of her locality tease her.

“When Rumana told Sanjida about the incident at this year’s Baishakhi fair, Sanjida advised her to wear decent clothes.” 

a. What is decency? 1

b. Explain why Rumana should care for the decency of the clothes she wears? 2  

c. In what way can we emulate Sanjida and protect ourselves from the effects of social decay? 3

d. Analyse, in the light of the Quran-Hadith, the importance of decency in building a good and healthy society. 4

Science, humanities and commerce stream students answered these questions.

They said two teachers, Abdul Hye and Jinnat Ali, take classes on Islam on the morning and day shifts.

But who set the paper remains unclear.

A number of students told bdnews24.com on the condition of anonymity that they discussed the question among themselves and had felt uneasy.

bdnews24.com approached Rasheda K Chowdhury, education advisor to the former caretaker government and Executive Director of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE).

She said: “Whoever has done it has done so with an intention. The aim of our education is to familiarise people with the world of knowledge.

“Here, women have been targeted by citing a personal example and a negative impression has been created. This will have a lasting effect on the minds of the students.”

She felt all this had been deliberately done.

“Boys have not been cited as examples. Girls have been targeted.  Boys, too, go to fair in T-shirts and jeans. But a negative impression is being created about women.”

“This amounts to disregarding the human rights of women. We cannot teach students to violate human rights.

“It is not a healthy trend to blame women’s clothes instead of social attitudes as a reason for atrocities against women.

“The greatest worry is that such things are encouraging the abuse and suppression of women,” she said.

The country was shaken by an incident of harassment of women in the TSC area of the Dhaka University during the Bengali New Year celebrations on Apr 14.

Several organisations are still agitating for the arrest and punishment of the culprits.

The government has released the pictures of eight suspected harassers prepared on the basis of what could be gathered from CCTV footage.

It has also announced a reward of Tk 100,000 for the arrest of each of the eight suspected offenders. 

Dhaka education board Chairman Abu Bakr Siddique’s views were sought on such a question being asked in a Dhaka school examination under the present circumstances.

He said: “This is a sensitive issue. Such matters are best avoided in question papers.” 

Repeated attempts to contact the principal of the school proved futile. But efforts are still on to get her comment on the incident.