‘There is no question to seek apology’

Salim Osman, local lawmaker from Jatiya Party, has said that he will not apologise for forcing a high school headmaster to squat holding his earlobes in public.

“There is no question of seeking an apology,” said an indifferent Salim Osman at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

“I did not humiliate a teacher, I gave punishment to a person who made offensive comments on Allah,” lauded the Narayanganj lawmaker.

Earlier in the day, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid at a media briefing at the International Mother Language Institute in capital’s Segunbagicha disclosed that Shyamal Kanti Bhakta, the humiliated headmaster of Piyar Sattar Latif High School in Bandar Upazila of Narayanganj, has been reinstated.

The managing committee of the school has also been dismissed and a new committee led by Narayanganj’s district commissioner was formed, the minister also told media at the briefing.

On May 13, locals beat Shyamal Kanti Bhakta for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. At one stage, local MP AKM Selim Osman forced him to do sit-ups holding his ears.

A video clip of the incident went viral on social media, triggering public outrage and a firestorm of protests on social networking sites with people mimicking the squatting holding their earlobes.

The managing committee of the Piyar Sattar Latif High School also suspended Shyamal Kanti from his post temporarily. He got the suspension letter on Tuesday while undergoing at a local hospital.