Hindu teacher suspended for liking a post on Facebook

Bangladesh, Hindu Teacher, suspended, blasphemy, Shyamal Kanti Bhakta, Sherpur Upazila, Kalyani High School, Biplab Kumar Roy

Dhaka, June 1, 2016: Another Hindu teacher found himself in trouble in Bangladesh when a mob claimed that he had hurt their religious sentiments and insulted Islam.

The Hindu teacher has since been suspended and this case came to light in Bogra’s Sherpur Upazila.

All hell broke lose when the mob descended on to the Kalyani High School playground on Monday claiming that the Assistant Teacher of mathematics Biplab Kumar Roy  has liked a post critical of the dominant religion, Islam, on Facebook, wrote bdnews24.

Fearing the situation to be getting out of hand, the the school’s managing committee temporarily suspended the Hindu teacher and initiated an inquiry and the report is due in a week.

The twist in the tale is that the Facebook ID that liked the alleged blasphemous post is run under the name of ‘Krishna Kumar’, which the mob alleged that they ‘think’ is run by the Hindu teacher Biplab Kumar Roy.

Upazila Executive Officer AKM Sarwar Jahan said that the help of  IT specialists will be taken to ascertain that whether it is indeed run by the teacher and that he will be able to share more after the investigation.

Earlier too, another Hindu teacher Shyamal Kanti Bhakta, headmaster of a school at Narayanganj’s Bandar Upazila, was roughed up and made to do sit-ups by an enraged mob claiming that he had insulted Islam. Even the local MP took side of the mob and the Hindu teacher was summarily dismissed.

However, later after a thorough inquiry the education ministry found that the allegations were baseless and Bhakta was reinstated while the managing committee of the school was dismissed.

Blasphemy against Islam can have serious consequences in Bangladesh and several thinkers, minority leaders and others have fallen prey to radical Islamic groups operating freely in the nation.

Pic credit: Reuters