Jatiya Party MP accused of assaulting headmaster of a school in Dhaka

Jatiya Party lawmaker Sayed Abu Hossain Babla has been accused of assaulting the headmaster of a school in Dhaka after barging into the institute with his associates.

Teachers who witnessed the incident said on Monday afternoon that the Dhaka-4 MP assaulted the headmaster following a dispute over the managing committee of Dholairparh School and College.

A former MP of the constituency, the Awami League’s Sanjida Khanam too levelled similar charges against Babla and claimed that the “Joy Bangla” slogan was raised during the incident to confuse people.

Babla, however, rubbished the allegations, saying he had merely gone to meet the headmaster as there were some disputes over the formation of the institution’s managing committee.

The committee’s former president Nazrul Islam at the time was with Babla, who is a member of the Jatiya Party’s Presidium.

Islam denied the allegation of misbehaviour with the headmaster.

Locals say Babla is eyeing the post of the president of the managing committee, which is currently held by Sanjida Khanam.

According to the teachers, Babla entered headmaster Ataur Rahman’s room around 12:45pm.

“The MP (Babla) barged into my room with his associates like rogues and bandits. At that time, in the presence of the lawmaker, Nazrul Islam and others assaulted me,” the headmaster told bdnews24.com.

Rahman did not comment when asked whether the MP himself had assaulted him.

But Assistant Headmaster Shamim Ara Parvin said the MP had grabbed hold of the headmaster by his shirt collar.

Nazrul Islam was beside the MP at the time, she said.

“After seeing the incident, when I tried to flee from there, some of their men held me captive inside my office,” she told bdnews24.com.

Parvin said more than 50 youths, supporters of Babla, were shouting slogans outside the education institution during the time of the incident.

Sanjida Khanam alleged that the MP and his supporters had even threatened to kill headmaster Ataur Rahman. She claimed they were also shouting ‘Joy Bangla’ to create confusion.

“After coming to know about the incident, I rushed there with police and secured the release of the teacher with the help of locals,” she said.

Shyampur Police Station OC Abdur Razzak said, “There were some minor problems, triggered by a dispute over the school’s managing committee. But police managed to calm the situation after rushing to the spot.”

When contacted, MP Sayed Abu Hossain Babla told bdnews24.com that the allegations of assaulting the headmaster were not true.

“I went to the headmaster’s room to discuss matters relating to the managing committee of the school,” he claimed.

Alleging that the new managing committee had been formed in secret, former committee president Nazrul Islam said, “We went to meet the headmaster seeking a solution to the matter. There was no incident of manhandling.”