A controversial dispute in Tongi, Gazipur, has escalated beyond a local law enforcement matter into a fierce online debate surrounding child protection, vigilante justice, and religious rhetoric. Hafez Qari Zubayer Ahmad Tashrif, a prominent and often outspoken Islamic preacher, has alleged that leftist activists were involved in the recent assault of a madrasa vice-principal accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour towards a six-year-old student.
The incident originated at the Koriul Quran International Madrasa in the Auchpara area of Tongi. According to the victim’s family, the young girl began refusing to attend classes following an occurrence on Wednesday afternoon. When pressed by her parents, the child initially remained silent out of fear, later explaining that she had been threatened with physical violence if she disclosed what happened. She eventually revealed to her parents that she had been subjected to inappropriate physical contact by the institution’s vice-principal, Muslehuddin.
Outraged by the revelation, the child’s parents visited the madrasa on Wednesday afternoon to confront the teacher directly. Footage that rapidly circulated across social media platforms captured the confrontation, showing Muslehuddin admitting to touching the young girl inappropriately under interrogation. During the heated exchange, the girl’s guardian slapped the teacher in anger. Local police subsequently stepped in and arrested the accused vice-principal.
The video sparked widespread outrage, but Zubayer Ahmad Tashrif took to social media to challenge the narrative surrounding the assault. In a video posted to his verified Facebook page, Tashrif questioned the motives of the parents, demanding a thorough investigation into the physical assault on the teacher and calling for exemplary punishment for those who took the law into their own hands. Accompanying the video was a caption explicitly stating that leftist political elements were behind the incident, though he provided no supporting evidence or further details to substantiate the claim.
In his video address, Tashrif expressed frustration over the public applause directed at the parent who struck the teacher, arguing that the severity of the action was grossly exaggerated. He claimed that the teacher had merely kissed or held the young girl, suggesting that accusations of sexual assault were unsubstantiated. He further alleged that the guardian harboured underlying hatred towards Islamic scholars, stating that taking the law into one’s own hands demonstrated pre-existing bias. While Tashrif conceded that any teacher found guilty of abusing children in madrasas should face the harshest possible punishment under the law, he courted further backlash in a subsequent post by asserting that kissing a minor child is entirely permissible provided there is no malicious intent.
Tashrif is a familiar figure in public discourse whose commentary frequently generates significant controversy. His digital history includes vocal support for violence during a notorious incident in Valuka, Mymensingh, where a garment worker, Dipu Chandra Das, was mobbed and set on fire over false allegations of religious defamation. Tashrif actively defended the mob’s actions online at the time, only to delete his posts following intense public criticism when the allegations were proven entirely fabricated.
As the legal proceedings against the accused vice-principal continue in Gazipur, the wider incident highlights a growing tension on social media regarding child safety in educational institutions, the limits of parental intervention, and the influence of polarising digital commentators.
