Tasneem Siraj Mahboob, an associate professor in Dhaka University’s English department, has been accused of calling a student a “fundamentalist” and a “terrorist” for coming to a master’s class wearing a niqab. Students also allege that the teacher voiced fear that the student “could attack” her.
It happened in a master’s class of the department on Wednesday. The student in the niqab walked out in protest, and most of the students then boycotted the class. After the students’ complaint, the department’s authorities have given an assurance that the master’s class taken by the teacher will be changed.
Students said the teacher began the class with remarks about students’ financial circumstances and clothing. At one point she told a student wearing a niqab to sit at the back instead of the front, and said the student was making her uncomfortable and disturbing her concentration.
Sumi Akter, a student of the department, objected. She argued that the niqab was a matter of the student’s religious belief and personal choice and that she should not be made to sit at the back because of it. An argument with the teacher followed. According to Sumi Akter, the teacher asked her how she could be sure the student in the niqab was not a “fundamentalist” or a “terrorist”. She also claims it was said that someone in a niqab could attack the teacher.
First the student and then several others left the class in protest, and most of the students later boycotted it. Students said the teacher challenged them to complain to the media or to the vice-chancellor.
In a post on social media afterwards, Sumi Akter said the incident had dismayed her. There had been unease among students before over the teacher’s remarks about the niqab and hijab and her behaviour towards students, but they had not protested openly until now.
She added: “Most teachers in the English department are sincere and sympathetic towards students. No student is normally embarrassed over their religion, dress or views.” She said the whole department’s teachers should not be held responsible for one teacher’s conduct.
Sumi also alleged that the teacher regularly spends much of the class on matters outside the academic subject and gives prominence to her own position and opinions, and that many had been embarrassed by her remarks about students’ financial circumstances.
The department’s chairperson, Prof Dr Tazin Aziz Chaudhury, told the media: “We have sat with the students informally. We have not yet received a written complaint from them. The students told us their concerns and what happened in the class. We will come to an official decision at a meeting tomorrow.”
On keeping the teacher from taking master’s classes, she said: “The students said they do not want to interact with that teacher. We have assured them that they will not have to depend on her.”
The teacher was contacted by phone several times for comment but could not be reached.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report