\n Bangladesh has cancelled plans to hire music teachers for primary schools, a government official told AFP on Monday, after the move faced fierce opposition from Islamist groups in the Muslim-majority country.\n<\/p>\n
\n In August, the ministry overseeing primary education issued a circular announcing the recruitment of music teachers -- a decision that the interim government has now reversed.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The government has scrapped the decision and issued an order\", a senior ministry official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Both the music and physical education posts have now been dropped,\" said the official.\n<\/p>\n
\n The government has not commented publicly on the decision.\n<\/p>\n
\n The reversal follows strong protests from Bangladesh's largest Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and other Islamist organisations that oppose the inclusion of music in school curricula.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mia Golam Parwar, a senior Jamaat leader, said it was unacceptable to appoint music and dance teachers without also hiring religious instructors.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Imposing music and dance is a conspiratorial move and goes against Islam,\" said Sajidur Rahman, a senior leader of Hefazat-e-Islam, an influential pressure group made up of multiple political parties, organisations and religious schools.\n<\/p>\n
\n A.F.M. Khalid Hossain, who holds the religious affairs portfolio in the interim cabinet, met last week with education ministry officials to discuss the issue.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The government will not make any decision that goes against public sentiment,\" Khalid told reporters after the meeting.\n<\/p>\n
\n The South Asian nation of 170 million people has been in political turmoil since Sheikh Hasina was toppled in August 2024.\n<\/p>\n
\n Hasina, who was blamed for extensive human rights abuses, took a tough stand against Islamist movements during her autocratic 15-year rule.\n<\/p>\n
\n Since she fled to India -- where she has defied extradition orders to face charges of crimes against humanity -- Islamist groups have grown increasingly assertive.\n<\/p>\n
\n They have demanded restrictions on cultural activities they consider \"anti-Islamic\", including music and theatre festivals, women's football matches, and kite-flying celebrations.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rasheda K. Chowdhury, a prominent education expert, criticised the government's reversal on teaching music.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"What kind of nation are we trying to create?\" she told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The government should have convinced them that religious studies and music can go hand in hand; there is no conflict between them.\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bangladesh has cancelled plans to hire music teachers for primary schools, a government official told AFP on Monday, after the move faced fierce opposition from Islamist groups in the Muslim-majority country. In August, the ministry overseeing primary education issued a circular announcing the recruitment of music teachers -- a decision that the interim government has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-151701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n