3 temple-based schools still shut in B'baria

Three temple-based pre-schools at Nasirnagar have remained closed since the hate attack on the Hindus in the upazila on Sunday.

The pre-schools -- which offer early childhood education to 90 children -- have not reopened amid fear of further attacks, said their teachers.

The educational establishments at Goura Mandir at Mahakal Para, Jagannath Mandir at Dashpara and Durga Mandir at Gaankulpara in Brahmanbaria's Nasirnagar union are run under a project of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Each of the pre-schools has 30 students, who are below five, and they are also taught Bangla, Mathematics and Religious Education there.

Talking to The Daily Star, some of the teachers said many local Hindu families who had fled before or after the attack were yet to return. Again, many families were not interested in sending their children to the pre-schools considering their safety.

Armed with sticks and sharp weapons, religious zealots vandalised and looted at least 10 temples and several hundred Hindu houses and business establishments in Nasirnagar and Haripur unions of Nasirnagar upazila on Sunday.

The attack was carried out over a Facebook post from the account of Rasraj Das, 27. Rasraj is in jail now in a case filed over the post.

Tensions had been brewing in the area since Saturday, as two Islamist groups -- Touhidi Janata and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat -- called two protest rallies for Sunday over the Facebook post “hurting religious sentiment of the Muslims”.

Some locals blamed the protesters for the attack, which the rally organisers denied. They blamed some “criminals” from nearby Nurpur village for the incident.

“Guardians are too frightened to send their children to my school. I am also not that confident to open it,” said Jahar Lal Das, the lone teacher at the pre-school at Goura Mandir.

Konika Rani Das, a teacher at the pre-school at Jagannath Mandir, echoed Jahar.

The teachers said most of their students were from poor families and their education was being hampered.

Meanwhile, The Daily Star correspondent visited the affected areas on Tuesday and Wednesday, and found that at least 40 students of local primary and secondary schools were skipping classes fearing further attacks.

Many of them have their final exams, including Primary Education Completion Examinations, this month and their education was being severely hampered, said the guardians.