Dhaka
The Hindu principal of a high school in Bangladesh was allegedly held hostage and forced to resign from his post on the basis of baseless allegations. Local media reports stated that the acting Principal of Chittagong Haji Tobarak Ali Chaudhary (TAC) High School Acting Principal Kanti Lal Acharya, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Khaleda Zia and members of his affiliated organizations pressured them to sign the resignation.
Principal’s daughter Bhavna Acharya on Thursday alleged on social media that her father was forced to step down without any charge. He wrote in his post, “My father Kanti Lal Acharya has been teaching in Bhatiyari Haji Tobarak Ali High School for 35 years. On Wednesday, my father was forcibly removed from the post of acting principal without any perfect charge. What crime my father has committed? It was not told.”
Bhavna Acharya wrote, “My father was forbidden to go to school before the latest incident. He was told that if he went to school, he would be humiliated. In response, my father said that he has committed nothing wrong and committed any crime. He said that if you ask me to step down from my post, I will leave the post without any hesitation but I will not go to school but I will not run away.”
Bhavna reported that her father was asked to forcibly sign a paper. It was written in the paper that they are voluntarily resigned due to allegations of corruption. According to him, “My father said fearlessly that he has not done any corruption and he would not sign that page, resign. People beat my father. Later another paper was written as stated that he had resigned for personal reasons.”
Expressing disappointment, Bhavna further said, “This is an insult to the teacher! We are the only low nations in the world who are targeting teachers at every level and putting them in this derogatory position.”
Talking to Bangladesh’s leading Bengali daily first Alo, Kanti Lal Acharya said that since the incident in the school, he has fallen ill, scared and his entire family is also worried for him. When asked about the incident, Upazila Executive Officer Fakhrul Islam told Prothom Alo that the officials of the Chittagong Education Board have constituted a committee to investigate the incident. Some reports also stated that BNP members who attacked the teacher claimed that Bangladesh should be an Islamic state where non-Muslim principals have no place.
Violence and continuous deteriorating violence and law and order have continued in Bangladesh since the fall of the Awami League government, led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year. The interim government, led by Mohammad Yunus, is often accused of discriminating against minorities and not giving them protection.
India has repeatedly expressed concern over the situation in Bangladesh and hoped that the Yunus-led government will take strict action against the culprits of the violence.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of safety of minorities in Bangladesh including Hindus during his meeting with Younus during the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok.
