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Published : 12 Jul 2016, 11:35 PM
The schools, in the capital city Dhaka as well as in other regions of Bangladesh, are allegedly being operated in line with the controversial Islamic preacher’s ideals by adding ‘Peace’ to their names.
The government has banned Peace TV after allegations were brought against Naik that at least two of the Gulshan attackers were inspired by him.
“Peace TV is not consistent with Muslim society, the Quran, Sunnah, Hadith, Bangladesh’s Constitution, our culture, customs and rituals,” Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu has said.
Born and living in Mumbai, the 50-year old Naik is a qualified doctor who left the medical profession to found the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), which runs the Islamic International School and NGO United Islamic Aid.
The Bangladesh government does not have any specific information on how many schools are being operated with the word ‘Peace’ in their names.
The Dhaka education board authorities said they only approved temporarily an English medium school at Lalmatia to operate under the name Peace School. The others do not have any such permission.
Dhaka education board Chairman Mahbubur Rahman also said the board would check on the nature of such schools.
Dhaka board School Inspector ATM Moinul Hossain said no permission was actually needed to run any private institution.
“First the authorities establish an educational institution. They apply for government approval after reaching a certain stage. The government then inspects the institution and takes a decision on whether to give it permission to continue operating,” he said.
An education ministry official said none of these ‘Peace Schools’ in Dhaka had applied for permission to the ministry or the board.
The official, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak over the issue, said that intelligence agencies had been asked to inquire into the 20 ‘Peace Schools’ spotted by the ministry in Dhaka.
“If these schools actually follow Zakir Naik’s ideals, they will face action,” the education ministry official said.
Inspector Moinul said the board has informed the ministry about the Peace School at Lalmatia.
An official of the school told bdnews24.com the school was established in 2011.
It offers English medium education from playgroup to grade eight.
Three of the Peace Schools have their websites, but none of the phone numbers provided in the websites were useful.
They are at Malibagh, Uttara and Mirpur in Dhaka.
An official of the board said 28 schools in Bangladesh have ‘Peace’ in their names.
