Bangladesh closing down school that dubbed pro-Pakistan Monem Khan 'martyr'

A school in Mymensingh that taught its students that East Pakistan governor Abdul Monem Khan was a ‘martyr’ is to be shut by the authorities.

The school established by Monem’s daughter in the city is to be shut for distorting Bangladesh’s history and not having permission as an educational institution, officials said.

The district administration will close the institution on Sunday following an education ministry order after the allegations were proved in an investigation that the school violated the law, Mymensingh Deputy Commissioner Md Khalilur Rahman told bdnews24.com on Saturday.

Monem Khan, much reviled in Bangladesh’s history, was steadfast in his allegiance to Pakistan and had opposed the creation of Bangladesh until his death.

Monem's daughter Nasrin Monem Khan established the English medium Onnesha International School and College at Notun Bazar Saheb Ali Road in Mymensingh City in 1996. She is the current principal of the institution.

Its signboard and papers, including a recently released leaflet inviting students for enrolment, carry the monogram with a crescent moon and a star, which resembles Pakistan's national flag.

They also say: "To the Memories of Martyred Governor Abdul Monem Khan".

Locals said the institution never observes any national day like Independence Day or Victory Day.

Freedom fighters and pro-liberation people in the town have expressed ire over the children being taught distorted history.

bdnews24.com published a report on the public outcry in the locality over the issue on Jan 13.

Nazrul Islam Chunnu, a students' leader of the 90s, said they along with the freedom fighters covered the ‘audacious’ word from the school's signboard with black ink earlier.

"But they once again showed the brazenness of putting it back distorting our history," he said.

Mymensingh City Muktijoddha Unit Command Member Secretary Selim Sarker thanked the authorities for the decision.

He also demanded legal action against those who depicted Monem Khan a 'martyr'.

Monem Khan, who hailed from Bajitpur in Kishoreganj, was a prominent Muslim League leader.

In 1962, he became the governor of erstwhile East Pakistan and was Ayub Khan’s henchman entrusted with the job of suppressing the Bengali movement for self-determination.

He was shot by freedom fighters at his Banani residence in Dhaka on Oct 13, 1971. He died in a hospital later.