Police in Manikganj’s Saturia upazila have arrested Abul Hashem Bhuiyan, headmaster of Tilli High School, after he allegedly used a banner featuring a slogan associated with former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a rally marking World Teachers’ Day.
The incident took place on Monday, 5 October, in the Tilli Market area. Acting on reports from local residents, law enforcement personnel detained the headmaster and seized the banner used in the procession.
According to police and local sources, the headmaster organised a rally involving teachers and students from the institution to observe World Teachers’ Day. The procession commenced from the school premises, paraded through several thoroughfares in Tilli Market, and concluded with a discussion meeting held on the school playground.
Tensions arose when several local bystanders noticed the text printed on the event’s central banner, which read: “Shikkha Niye Gorbo Desh, Sheikh Hasinar Bangladesh” (We will build the country with education, Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladesh). Considering the current political backdrop and public sensitivities surrounding political slogans in educational spaces, locals raised immediate objections and alerted the Saturia Police Station.
Upon receiving the report, a police team arrived at the spot, confiscated the material, and took the 48-year-old headmaster into custody.
Police records indicate that Abul Hashem Bhuiyan hails from Aga Kalia village in the Kalia Union of Daulatpur upazila, Manikganj. Officials confirmed that he previously served as the vice-president of the Kalia Union unit of the Awami League.
The deployment of a political slogan during a national observance intended for educators has sparked widespread discussion across the upazila, raising concerns over political partisanship within local educational institutions.
Confirming the arrest, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Saturia Police Station, Md Mosharraf Hossain, stated that formal legal proceedings had been initiated against the headmaster before presenting him in court.
