Bangladesh was left in shock when on 20th March 2019 when the Principal of Rabia Shamsuddin technical School & BM College of Chittagong made Islamic prayers mandatory. But worse was to follow, when throwing all rules and regulations to the winds, the Principal in charge Mr. Mohammed Aminul Islam Sohag invited all the non-Muslim students of the institution to embrace Islam en-masse.
Even more problematic is the fact that this notice has been signed by six other teachers and was covered by Bangla portal bdnewstimes.
The handwritten notice, not a rarity in Bangladesh, is authenticated by school seal and signs of the teachers.
Sitangshu Guha, a writer, Journalist of Bangladeshi origin living in the USA told www.currentriggers.com:
‘This is nothing new in Bangladesh, rather the society encourages the one-way Islamic conversion and the administration always sided with the perpetrators. This time the call to convert to Islam came from a Principal, but mostly it is the religious clerics who preach of forceful conversions here. Militants threaten minorities to convert to Islam or leave Bangladesh. Problem is, that it is their belief that if they can convert one Hindu to Islam, the whole family will go to heaven and worse is that Government’s inaction encourages these illegal acts.”
While Hindu teachers have gotten suspensions for as much as liking posts on social media considered sensitive to the majority, Hindu pupils are browbeaten by the teachers to write Allah instead of God.
The radicalization of teachers is something that the government needs to look into as they are involved in demolishing of Hindu Temples, communal charges and also abduction of minor Hindu girls for conversion to Islam.
Due to rising extremism and religious persecution, many victims have been forced to leave Bangladesh and take refuge in neighboring India.
