Tawhid Hossain Sarkar:
The university administration has demoted two teachers of Comilla University (CU) on charges of sexual harassment and breach of discipline. Associate Professor Ali Rezwan Talukder of the English Department has been demoted to the rank of Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor Mohammad Jasim Uddin of the Finance and Banking Department has been demoted to the rank of Lecturer.
This information was given in the decision of the 104th Syndicate meeting of the university on Tuesday (April 29). Earlier, Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Md. Haider Ali said that this step was taken after a long investigation and internal discussions.
Details of the allegations
In 2020, Ali Rezwan Talukder was removed from the post of Head of Department on charges of sexually harassing a student of the evening course and making objectionable comments about colleagues.
On the other hand, Assistant Professor Jasim Uddin was accused of giving marks to three students and sexually harassing them even after leaving the university in September last year. Later, he was sent on compulsory leave for the sake of investigation.
The question arises—is their responsibility personal or institutional?
Is this incident only the moral lapse of two individual teachers, or is the university’s environment, management and control system also partly responsible for it—this question is now circulating among students, teachers and guardians.
According to educationists and social analysts, lack of moral education, deviation from religious values, and weakness of administrative accountability—all of which lead to such undesirable incidents.
A professor of the Department of Sociology at Dhaka University (who did not wish to be named) said,
“It is not only personal character that is important, but how effective the institution’s surveillance and prevention system is. Sometimes, even though there are rules, irregularities increase due to lack of implementation.”
How responsible is the university’s internal management?
Many CU students said that there have been questions about the behavior of teachers and officials at the university for a long time. Many believe that such incidents have been encouraged by the administration’s failure to take strict action in the beginning.
A former university teacher said,
“Highly paid teachers are appointed but their mental and moral maturity is not checked. As a result, the chain of command becomes weak.”
Lack of religious and moral education – the main reason?
Analysts believe that it is important to teach not only professional skills but also morality and values in the education system. Religious values or practices are almost absent at the university level.
A teacher commented,
“Religion is not just a formality, it is a change of heart. That is what is missing. That is why some people, even though they are educated, show a low mentality.”
This incident is not just two names, but a mirror of the entire system. If the university cannot be established not only as a center for the pursuit of knowledge, but also as a center for the formation of moral character, a more terrible picture may emerge in the future.
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