A human chain and protest rally were held in Lalmohan, Bhola, demanding an end to the alleged harassment of Principal Delwar Hossain Azizi, president of the Bangladesh Madrasa Teachers and Employees Forum and member secretary of the MPO-listed Education Nationalisation Aspirants’ Alliance.

The protesters demanded the withdrawal of the notice forming an investigation committee against him and condemned what they described as an attempt to silence his voice in support of teachers’ legitimate demands.

The hour-long human chain and protest rally was organised by the Lalmohan upazila unit of the Bangladesh Madrasa Teachers and Employees Forum in front of the Lalmohan Press Club at 12 noon on Saturday (October 31).

Speakers at the programme included Maulana Md Abu Zafar Mainuddin, president of the Bhola district unit of the Bangladesh Madrasa Teachers and Employees Forum; Vice-President Maulana Shafiullah; Lalmohan upazila unit President Maulana Md Abu Taher; and General Secretary Maulana Farid Uddin, among others.

The protest rally was moderated by Maulana Md Nesar Uddin, vice-president of the Lalmohan upazila unit of the forum.

Addressing the gathering, the speakers said a sit-in programme had been announced in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on November 4 to press for the issuance of transfer orders for MPO-listed teachers, payment of salaries and allowances in accordance with the ninth national pay scale, and 100 percent festival allowances starting from the next Eid-ul-Fitr.

In connection with the planned programme, Principal Delwar Hossain Azizi published a protest post alleging harassment and misconduct towards teachers by Md Samiul Islam Pramanik, Deputy Director (Administration) of the Directorate of Madrasa Education.

The speakers alleged that, surprisingly, just a few hours after the post was published, a notice announcing the formation of an investigation committee against Azizi was uploaded to the directorate’s website at 11:22 pm.

They further said that, between October 15 and 28, a joint secretary of the Ministry of Education, the director of the Directorate of Inspection and Audit (DIA), and an inspector of the Madrasa Education Board had visited his institution within a span of just 15 days.

Considering the timing, sequence of events and unusually rapid administrative actions, the speakers expressed concern that the measures were intended to personally harass Principal Delwar Hossain Azizi and silence his voice in support of the legitimate demands of MPO-listed teachers and employees.

They strongly condemned what they described as harassing measures and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the investigation committee’s notice, an end to the harassment of Azizi, and an end to any attempt to disrupt the previously announced programme on November 4.

The rally concluded with an appeal to all teachers and employees to attend the scheduled sit-in programme in front of the National Press Club on November 4.