Narayanganj school head teacher sacked after public humiliation amid media outrage

A Narayanganj school has sacked its head teacher after he was publicly humiliated for allegedly making statements criticising religion.

Shyamal Kanti Bhakta, the head teacher at Piyar Sattar Latif High School, was handed the letter confirming his removal by school authorities on Tuesday.

The letter signed by the school’s managing body president Farukul Islam cited ‘his absence from duty’ as one of the reasons for their decision, Bhakta told bdnews24.com.

“I was first humiliated and then have been removed from my job. I’ve been taking treatment at a hospital after the incident. The school authorities have taken that as my absence,” he said.

Bhakta was rescued by police on Friday after he was assaulted by locals and then made to do sit-ups holding ears in the presence of MP AKM Salim Osman.

The Hindu teacher’s public humiliation on apparently flimsy grounds that he had insulted religious sensitivities of Muslims has caused public outrage with scores taking to social media to protest.

A group of students at Sylhet’s Shahjalal University of Science & Technology staged a demonstration holding their ears on Tuesday as a show of solidarity.  
 
Earlier, the police in the district had said the treatment meted out to the teacher was not a criminal offence, but Law Minister Anisul Huq told reporters those behind the incident will be punished for taking ‘the law into their own hands’. 

The school’s letter to Bhakta said: “The allegations against you of assaulting students, taking of bribes as the school’s head teacher, disparaging statements against Islam, absence without leave and frequent delays in attendance have been discussed in the meeting of the managing committee.” 

“These offences had also been discussed in the past and you were warned several times. But you did not stop such illegal activities. You are, therefore being temporarily dismissed as the head teacher of Piyar Sattar Latif High School in line with the decision taken by the managing committee on May 13.”

There are no charges of financial irregularities against him, but he never listened to anyone, said Mobarak Hossain, a member of the committee.