Nirmul Committee demands judicial probe into teacher Hriday Mondal’s arrest

Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee has demanded a judicial investigation into the arrest of teacher Hriday Chandra Mondal on charges of hurting religious sentiments.

The committee also demanded the charges against Hriday be dropped at a meeting in Munshiganj Circuit House on Friday.

Hriday was arrested in March after a group of students alleged that he hurt their feelings by comparing science and religion in a class.

According to an audio clip they shared on social media, Hriday argued that “religion is a matter of faith” while “science looks at the evidence”. He was freed on bail on Apr 10 after 21 days in custody.

Shahriar Kabir, president of the Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, said “anti-liberation extremist forces” instigated the students to bring the charges against Hriday as the “evil forces continued to destroy communal harmony in Bangladesh”.

“The teacher has been freed, but we know from bitter experience that the idealistic man will have to bear the pain of the legal case for years,” he said, recalling past cases against Hindu men on “false” charges of hurting religious sensibilities on social media.

The other demands raised by the committee included the withdrawal of all such cases, security for victims of communal attacks, and identification and arrest of those who spread communal hatred.

Former Appellate Division judge Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Muntassir Mamoon, Bangabandhu Chair Professor of Chattogram University, Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee’s Vice-President Shymoli Nasrin Chowdhury and Bangladesh Gram Theatre Foundation President Nasir Uddin Yousuff, also spoke at the programme.

Teacher Hriday thanked the guests for supporting him after the “untoward” incident.