Dipu Moni promises stern action against those responsible for communal question

Education Minister Dipu Moni said the incident of communal incitement found in the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) exams question paper is very regretful and will not be tolerated.

The minister made the remark while replying to a journalist’s question on religious sentiment hurt by Bangla 1st paper HSC exams question at the International Mother Language Institute in the city on Monday.

She said there was a specific direction about avoiding communalism in question papers, but sadly the questioner and the moderator both failed to identify the issue or took it normally.

“The moderator will be identified and actions will be taken in this regard,” said Dipu Moni.

She said those who want to sow the seeds of communalism in student’s minds will not be allowed to get involved in the procedure of setting or moderating questions in future.

The HSC and equivalent exams for the academic session 2021-22 began across the country with Bangla 1st Paper on Sunday.

There, in the Dhaka Board’s question paper, one CQ (written) question raised a controversy and drew criticism.

The bizarre and unnecessary passage said that two brothers, Nepal and Gopal (names generally used by Hindu community), had a land dispute. To punish his elder brother, Nepal sold the disputed land to a Muslim man named Abdul. But when the new owner sacrificed a cow on that land during Eid-ul-Azha, it hurt Nepal and he migrated to India.

This question received huge criticism from people and educationists concerned for its blatant use of communal elements, from established tropes to provocative dog whistles.