Dipu Moni for action over ‘communal insensitivity’

Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Monday said that action will be taken after identifying the persons responsible for communal insensitivity in the Bangla First Paper question of an education board in the ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination.

She said, “It is unfortunate that such a question somehow skipped the scrutiny of the moderators. We are trying to identify those involved so that they refrain from such actions in the future.”

Dipu Moni came up with the remarks while talking to reporters at the International Mother Language Institute in the capital following massive criticism over a question on the HSC Bangla first paper.

There is an allegation that the 11th question on the creative section of Bangla first paper of the Dhaka Education Board’s exam was about two Hindu brothers involved in a land dispute.

The question states that the younger brother sold off a piece of land to a Muslim buyer to wreak vengeance on the elder brother. The Muslim buyer then began living on the land and slaughtered a cow there as part of his religious observance of Eid-ul-Azha. The question goes on to say that the younger brother, devastated by the incident, then left his land and moved to India.

Dipu Moni said that those setting the exam were given clear instructions on what they should keep in mind while making question papers for public exams.

“The instructions absolutely state that the questions must be free from communal issues. Bangladesh is a secular country. If an exam in Bangladesh includes a question that inflames communal tensions, it is extremely unfortunate. It is unacceptable,” she said.

“We are identifying the moderator and the person who set the question to take action accordingly,” she added.