Internal conflict of teachers under radar in Narail principal assault

A group of teachers might have been involved in the assault on Swapan Kumar Biswas, acting principal of Mirzapur United Degree College in Narail, some members of the investigative committee formed by the district administration to look into the matter believe.

By now, the picture of Swapan coming out of his office surrounded by police officials, a garland of shoes around his neck and his hands raised above his head and folded in a gesture of apology, has become a rallying cry for those fighting against communal violence which rears its ugly head all too often in Bangladesh.

SM Chayedur Rahman, a member of the committee and Narail district education officer, said, "With so many teachers involved, the issue could have been resolved if everyone tried. So, we are trying to find out whether any teachers were involved."

Acting Principal of Mirzapur United Degree College Swapan Kumar Biswas

Although he said nothing has been proven yet, he added some of the teachers interviewed had also revealed some internal conflict among the teachers.

"The post of principal has been vacant in the college for several years. Earlier, another teacher, Akhter Hossain Tinku, was in charge. He was later removed and Swapan Kumar Biswas was made acting principal. We heard there was some opposition to this move, but nothing concrete has been uncovered so far," he said.

"Maybe they nurtured the opposition in their hearts, but it was never made public."

Akhter Hossain Tinku, however, denied this possibility. "The day after the incident, the local MP came and told me to take new responsibilities, but I did not agree. As the MP spoke to me about this in front of everyone, some may think I had a hand in the assault, but the reality is far from it."

Swapan Kumar, speaking to The Business Standard, said he had approached a few teachers for help, but they played a silent role.

"When some students informed me about the incident in the morning, I called three teachers and discussed the matter with them. One of them was a member of the board of directors and the other was Akther Hossain Tinku, the president of the local Awami League unit.

"In case of anything untoward, I usually first inform these three teachers. I discussed the issue of informing the matter to the local police outpost, but they did not say anything and kept silent," he said.

Tinku, denied this allegation, too, saying he had agreed to go to the police and ensure the student who made the post was punished.

Before any action could be taken, locals, college-goers and students of a nearby madrasa gathered on the school premises.

Swapan said at this point he called the chairman of the governing body of the college, member of parliament and others, but none came to his aid.

The crowd set fire to three motorcycles, including Swapan's.

Police finally arrived and took the principal into custody. Despite being surrounded by hundreds of police, Swapan was still beaten by the crowd and put on the garland of shoes.

Narail District Superintendent of Police Prabir Kumar Roy, who said he was present at the scene, also claimed to have not even seen anyone put the humiliating garland on Biswas.

Biswas came under attack at his campus on 18 June after a student made a Facebook post in support of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who made insulting comments against the Prophet.  

When rumours began originating that the principal had sided with the student, unrest began to grow in the campus.

Meanwhile, a case has been filed against the class-XI student over the Facebook post by local Mirzapur Hajibari Dakhil Madrasa teacher under the Digital Security Act.

In this regard, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at a meeting at the Secretariat on Wednesday said, "A lot of things happened all of a sudden. We are really sorry for the incident. I have asked that it be found out if anyone, the police or deputy commissioner or whoever, was negligent in their duties."

The Department of Secondary and Higher Education has also formed three separate committees investigating the incident.

Apart from that, the Narail district administration and district police have formed two separate investigation committees into the incident.

Narail Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Habibur Rahman said, "The college has been ordered to close till Eid-ul-Azha. An investigation committee has been formed by the district administration.

"After the formation of the committee on 23 June, they have started working. The investigation report will be submitted on 30 June."

Two cases were filed with Narail Sadar on 17 June, accusing 160-180 people over the violence.  

Three people were arrested over the case on 27 June. They are: Mirzapur market mobile phone trader Shaon Khan, Monirul Islam and Syed Rimon Ali of Mirzapur.