Viqarunnisa principal under fire over rants in leaked phone call, says audio was doctored

Kamrun Nahar, principal of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, faced heated criticism after an audio clip purporting to have recorded her voice went viral on social media.

The clip is 4 minutes and 39 seconds long and includes an excited female voice directing a torrent of abuse at someone from the school’s governing body and parent forum.

"I can shoot a gun. I used to walk around with a revolver in my bag. I used to tuck a pistol under my pillow," the voice is heard saying at one point.

The voice also threatened to slash the recipient of the abuse with a machete if they tried to start an investigation.

"I have the Chhatra League, Jubo League and Mohila League with me,” it said.

Parent forum leader Mir Sahabuddin Tipu claims he is the person on the receiving end of the insults.

"The principal got excited when I called her on Jun 10. At one point, she hurled verbal abuses at some members of the governing body," he told bdnews24.com.

Repeated attempts by bdnews24.com to get a statement from Kamrun Nahar on the issue were unsuccessful.

Nahar, however, claimed in a Facebook post that the audio clip was “edited” and the parent forum and the school governing board had doctored it as part of a 'conspiracy' against her.

“I have learned not to yield to conspiracies and dishonesty. My only goal is to prepare the Viqarunnisa Noon School students as future leaders of Bangladesh,” she wrote. “Those people, whose interests have been violated, and who were trying to harm me for a long time, prepared the false audio clip by editing it.”

The phone conversation went viral as the famed educational institution faces an investigation over irregularities in admission and other issues. Many parents, teachers and students of Viqarunnisa have expressed their shock over the incident.

"We're really embarrassed to hear a principal use such foul language. We, the parents, are really stunned after hearing the audio clip," said Md Abdul Majid Sujon, general secretary of the parent forum.

"There were many complaints against her from the very beginning. Since she joined in January this year, she has been living in the college residence, but is never available at her own office. She never meets any of the parents to discuss their problems. She allegedly misbehaves with school officials," he said.

Last December, the Secondary and Higher Education Department transferred Kamrun Nahar, principal of Duaripara Government College in Mirpur, and deputised her to Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, one of the top schools in Dhaka.

On Jul 19, the parent forum held a press briefing to demand Kamrun Nahar be suspended after she arranged a cattle market on the school premises, said Abdul Majid.

"The principal is also a part of the governing body. But she never comes to the school. The governing body has pressed her to come and told her to inform the education ministry if she can't. But we never received any response from her," said Siddique Nasir Uddin, a member of the governing body, when asked about the “conspiracy” alleged by Kamrun Nahar.

They have informed governing board Chairman Khalilur Rahman and the deputy commissioner of Dhaka about the telephone conversation, he said. "The chairman will speak to the education secretary about it."

The education secretary and the deputy commissioner did not issue a statement on the matter.

Prof Nehal Ahmed, chairman of the Dhaka Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, mentioned the alleged irregularities in Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, saying a probe panel headed by the school inspector of the board has been formed.

"We formed a probe panel on Jul 19 to investigate the irregularities regarding the admission process, development works and others issues, but they couldn’t start to work due to the Eid holidays and the lockdown. Now, they’ll start the investigation once the lockdown restrictions are lifted,” he said.

Ahmed said the investigation has nothing to do with the recent alleged phone conversation of the principal. “This is a separate issue and the Secondary and Higher Education Department will look into it.”