Asim Kumar Das has requested his higher authority to transfer him to a high school as he has been a victim of communal oppression at his current workplace, Shimuliya Siddiqia Alim Madrasha, Gazaria, Munshiganj.
Asim is posted as an additional class teacher of science subjects at the madrsha under the Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) funded by the World Bank.
On August 6, Asim wrote to the SEQAEP’s project director Md. Mahmud-Ul-Haque and said that his Muslim colleagues often made bad comments about Hindu religion and insult him as he was a Hindu.
His Muslim colleagues asked him not to access teachers’ lounge as he requested them to stop showing disrespect to his religious beliefs, Asim alleged in the letter.
Asim requested the SEQAEP’s project director to transfer him from the madrasha to Tengarchar Razia Quadar Ideal High School considering the country’s social context as it does not permit a Hindu teacher to perform his duties at a marasha.
Mahmud told dainikshiksha.com August 16 that there was an altercation between the Hindu teacher and some other Muslim teachers at the madrasha.
Umme Habiba Khanam, a deputy director of SEQAEP has been assigned to investigate into the matter, he claimed.
Gajaria upazila secondary education officer Md Jakir Hossain said that he was informed about the matter and a meeting would be held this afternoon.
In July 2008, the government conceived the project, SEQAEP, aiming at improving the quality of secondary education, facilitating equitable access and monitoring teaching-learning outcomes of secondary education in the project areas.
The project worth $436 million or Tk 3,400 crore covers secondary and equivalent educational institutions in 125 upazilas under 61 districts. The government provides 21 per cent of the total investments from its Annual Development Programme while the World Bank provides the rest in soft loan.
The project implementation period would be completed by the end of December 2017.
