Students of the 2020-21 session of Dhaka University’s English department have protested against Tasneem Siraj Mahboob, an assistant professor in the department, accusing her of discriminatory and insulting behaviour. They staged the protest in a classroom on Monday morning by wearing black masks and niqabs and holding up red cards.
The students allege that the teacher called a student who wears the niqab a “fundamentalist” and a “terrorist”. She is also accused of calling six male students “gay” and “poor” because they were sitting on one bench in the same classroom. The students said the programme was held to take a stand against discrimination, humiliation and harassment. They also made a symbolic protest against those who support such behaviour. The slogans “Red Card to Racist, Classist and Hypocrite” and “Red Card to Those Who Support Discrimination, Humiliation and Bullying” were used.
Mohammad Nayem, a student of the department’s 2020-21 session, said Tasneem Siraj Mahboob had called a student a “fundamentalist” and a “terrorist” for wearing the niqab. He also alleged that she called six male students “gay” and “poor” for sitting on the same bench.
Nayem claims the teacher later went live on Facebook and, without properly setting out the allegations, gave a one-sided statement that relied on artificial intelligence. He alleges that Samina Luthfa, the Teachers’ Network and the teacher’s other supporters have publicly backed her and tried to present the students as the real offenders. Monday’s programme was also a symbolic protest against those positions, he said. Professor Dr Tazin Aziz Chaudhury, chair of the English department, said nothing could be said with certainty about the matter at the moment. She was not in the office at the time. If the students have made a written complaint, the matter will be known once it has been reviewed, she said.
On 7 October Assistant Professor Tasneem Siraj Mahboob was accused of calling a niqab-wearing student a “fundamentalist” and a “terrorist” in a classroom of the English department. This caused discontent among students. On 8 October the university administration temporarily relieved her of all class activities.
In protest at that decision, Samina Luthfa, a teacher in the university’s sociology department and a leader of the Teachers’ Network, protested in her classroom on Sunday with a black cloth tied over her mouth. She also called on other teachers to take part in programmes of this kind.
The next day the English department’s 2020-21 students wore black masks and niqabs and held up red cards. By Mohammad Nayem’s account, the programme was against the positions of the teacher concerned and of those who have expressed support for her.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report