Hindu teacher suspended for allegedly insulting Islam in Bangladesh

Muslim students complained to the school principal that the biology teacher made insulting remarks against Islam and Prophet Muhammad.

Dhaka, Jan 30: A Hindu teacher has been reportedly suspended over the allegations of insulting Islam in Bangladesh.

The incident came to light in Jessore district in the Khulna Division of Bangladesh, according to a report. Newton Sarkar, a resident of Bahadurpur village of Jessore, teaches biology at the Deyapara Model Secondary School.

Several Muslim students complained on January 25 that Sarkar made offensive remarks against Islam and Prophet Muhammad while teaching science to eighth standard students. They took up the issue with the Principal where he claimed that the Hindu teacher of committing blasphemy.

The Principal then assured the angry students of taking necessary action. However, the school was closed between January 26-28 over Saraswati puja. On Sunday several Muslim clerics, parents and students gathered in front of the school. Bowing down to the pressure, the school management temporarily suspended the teacher.

Abhaynagar upazila secondary education officer, Shahidul Islam has confirmed the news of the suspension.

On the other hand, the school had formed a 3-member committee to look into the matter and has been told to submit the report in three days. However, the Hindu teacher has denied all the allegations mounted by the Muslim students.

"I only talked about science in class. I even told students to honour all deities with respect. They quoted me out of context. I cannot understand why did they do it to me," BDNews24 quoted him as saying.

In a similar incident reported two weeks ago, Hindus were attacked and their houses were vandalized on the pretext of insulting Islam in Gopalganj, Kotalipara of Bangladesh. The mob had attacked Hindus alleging a Hindu youth of hurting their sentiments on a Facebook post. The incident occurred at Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's constituency.

In yet another instance of attack on Hindus worshipping place, a bunch of minors vandalised the idol of Goddess Saraswati in Bangladesh. The incident is reported from Naraich village in Mohanganj upazila in the Netrakona district in the Mymensingh Division on Thursday.

As per the report, the group of about 9-10 Islamists started taking pictures and video of the idol during aarti. The organisers told them not to take it which did not go well with the youths and there was a heated verbal exchange between them and the organisers.