Rashed Khan speaks out on Tongi madrasa incident: 'Kissing is not a teacher's job'
Rashed Khan, political assistant to the Prime Minister, has spoken out over allegations that a teacher kissed a seven-year-old student at a madrasa in Tongi, and the subsequent incident in which the child's father slapped the accused teacher. He said kissing is not the job of a teacher, nor of a political leader.
He made the remarks in a Facebook post on Saturday (24 October). In the post, he wrote that the allegation that a teacher kissed a seven-year-old girl at the Tongi madrasa, and the father's slapping of the teacher afterwards, had sparked widespread discussion across the country.
Rashed Khan said that since the incident came to light, many parents had been expressing concern about the safety of their children, bringing the question of children's safety in educational institutions to the fore once again.
However, he also warned against anti-madrasa campaigns built around the incident. In his words, some people are running campaigns against madrasa education over this event, but the entire madrasa education system cannot be called into question for the crime of an individual.
He further noted that the child's father had made the same point in his own statement — that the blame for an individual's crime should not be placed on a whole education system.
Rashed Khan expressed hope that the country's madrasa teachers would come forward to find remedies for such incidents, voice their protest, and take proper steps to restore public trust.
In the post he wrote: 'To all of us parents, a child is a sacred trust. If anyone casts an evil eye on that trust, it is entirely natural for parents to be angry.'
At the same time, he raised questions about the political culture of publicly kissing children. Rashed Khan said the top leader of one party has introduced this culture of public kissing; perhaps he behaves that way as a natural expression of affection or love toward a child or someone else.
But in his view, the Tongi incident shows what can happen when others, influenced by that leader's behaviour, express emotion the same way — or when someone with bad intentions casts an evil eye on children.
Rashed Khan made clear that he was not accusing that party's top leader of kissing anyone with negative intent as an expression of love or affection. But in the current reality and context, he said, such kissing can be extremely embarrassing for a child or any other person.
At the end of the post, he expressed hope that after the Tongi incident, the top leader of the political party concerned would also correct his own behaviour.
Child safety, the accountability of educational institutions and political culture — the three questions raised by a single incident are now at the centre of public discussion.
