MP Salim Osman should stay away from Parliament, says Health Minister Nasim

MP Salim Osman, who recently publicly shamed a school teacher, should never come to Parliament, the health minister has said.

Mohammed Nasim visited the teacher Shyamal Kanti Bhakta at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Sunday.

Bhakta, the head teacher of Narayanganj’s Piyar Sattar Latif High School, was beaten and made to do sit-ups holding his ears by Osman for allegedly insulting Islam on May 13.

The incident sparked a storm of protests and the school’s managing committee which had sacked the Hindu teacher following the assault was scrapped by the education ministry.

Salim Osman and his cohorts should understand the kind of protests that were held against his actions, said Nasim, a senior Awami League leader. “I believe they have lost the moral battle.”

“That MP should not come to Parliament if he has an ounce of shame.”

Osman, who also heads the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), should apologise as he has humiliated other MPs for the way he treated the teacher, he said.

The MP for Narayanganj-5 has, in a press conference, said he will ‘never apologise even if he was hanged’.

“He is a member of the Jatiya Party. Jatiya Party is then responsible for taking disciplinary measures against him,” said Nasim.