Those accused of attacking and vandalising the Qariul Quran International Madrasa in Tongi, Gazipur, and beating its teachers and staff are moving about openly, but police are not arresting them, it has been alleged. Instead, a teacher is being held in jail without any specific evidence, according to protesters, and the claim has stirred anger in Gazipur. Local clerics have demanded the immediate release of the jailed teacher and the arrest of the main attackers.
The clerics voiced their anger at a human chain in front of the Gazipur district judge’s court on Monday morning, 9 November. Jubo Jamiat Bangladesh (Gazipur city) and the Private Madrasa Oikya Parishad, Gazipur, organised it jointly.
Anger at the justice system, warning of tougher protests
The human chain demanded immediate bail and unconditional release for jailed teacher Md Moslem Uddin and the quick arrest of Shahjalal Rumi, the main accused in the case, and his associates. Speakers warned of tougher protests if the demands were not met.
Questioning the justice system, speakers said: “If fugitives can be brought back from abroad, why can police not arrest those who attacked a madrasa and are walking around openly in their own area? What kind of justice system is this? A teacher stays in jail while those accused of the attack roam free. That is in no way acceptable.”
What the clerics said
Hafez Maulana Keramat Ali, adviser to the Private Madrasa Oikya Parishad, chaired the event. Other speakers included Maulana Abdul Momin and Selim Ahmed, president and secretary of Ittefaqul Madarisil Qawmia Gazipur; Mufti Ariful Islam, president of the Private Madrasa Oikya Parishad; Maulana Mahmudul Hasan, president of Jubo Jamiat Gazipur; and Maulana Abdul Karim, principal of Noore Madina Madrasa.
Keramat Ali said: “There is an attempt to make madrasa education and the community of clerics controversial over a fabricated allegation. It is deeply worrying that those involved in attacking the madrasa and beating teachers have still not been arrested.”
Police role and claims of a fabricated case
Qari Almas Hossain Gazipuri, the madrasa’s founder and chairman, questioned the role of the police. “Everyone has seen in video footage how Shahjalal Rumi set upon the teachers and beat them,” he said. “Yet in its report to the court the police claimed the opposite, that local people beat them.”
He alleged that the teacher was sent to jail on a fabricated complaint made by coaching a child, while the main attackers remain out of reach.
Speakers warned that unless teacher Moslem Uddin’s bail is secured at once and the real attackers are brought to justice, a wider movement will be built in Gazipur.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report