Shyamal Kanti Bhakta. File Photo
A Narayanganj court on Wednesday indicted much-talked-about school teacher Shyamal Kanti Bhakta in a case filed by his fellow teacher on charge of bribery.
Bhakta, the headmaster of Piyar Sattar Latif High School, was publicly humiliated on 13 May last year for allegedly hurting religious sentiment.
Locals beat the headmaster in Bandar area of Narayanganj and local MP AKM Salim Osman, brother of Awami League MP Shamim Osman, forced him to do sit-up holding his ears.
This incident sparked public outrage across the country after the video of Shyamal Kanti doing sit-ups holding his ears went viral on social networking sites.
Now that headmaster stands accused of taking bribe in a case filed by a teacher of the same school, Morsheda Begum.
Morsheda filed the case on 27 July in 2016 accusing the headmaster of taking Tk 1.35 lakh from her as bribe in 2014.
Narayanganj senior judicial magistrate (third) Aktaruzzaman Bhuiyan indicted Shyamal Kanti after a hearing in presence of the headmaster.
The magistrate fixed 12 December as the date of next hearing of the case.
Talking to Prothom Alo, Bhakta, who is now out in bail, alleged that Salim Osman worked behind the scene to file the “false case” against the teacher in a bid to get rid of the case against himself.
“I am being harassed by filing a false case against me despite the fact that I am a teacher. I want justice and to get rid of the false case,” said Bhakta.
Earlier in May this year, a Narayanganj court sent Shyamal Kanti Bhakta to jail in the case after he surrendered before it, seeking bail following an arrest warrant.
Source: Prothom Alo
Impartial and transperent investitation int the contention of the headmaster should be launched to find out if there is any grain of truth in his contetion. There can be no dearh of cases, fabricated and motivated, against persons of pisition and authority by influential public men to do what Bhakta has alleged.
In the interest of justice he should be given a fair chance to prove his innocence.
We must remember what Martin Luther King, Jr had said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
This universal dictum we sould remember for the good of the country.