Around 12:30 pm on 25 August 2024, Hosne Ara, principal of Blue Bird School and College in Sylhet city, was working in her office. Suddenly, a group of students arrived on campus under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
Carrying the national flag, some took positions on the rooftops while others gathered on the playground. Through a loudspeaker, they demanded the principal’s removal.
Amid the tension, students were sent home. The protesters then entered the principal’s office and pressured Hosne Ara to sign a resignation letter written on a blank sheet of paper. Under pressure from the mob, she eventually resigned.
She was not alone. Goura Ghosh, former headteacher of Kishori Mohan Girls’ High School in Sylhet city, faced a similar ordeal. Her own students began protesting against her on 27 August. Two days later, on 29 August 2024, she was allegedly forced to sign a resignation letter at her home.
She has not been able to enter her institution since. Her salary and other benefits have also been stopped.
Hosne Ara and Goura Ghosh are among several teachers in Sylhet who were forced to leave their institutions after facing mob pressure in the aftermath of the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. Some were later suspended by their management committees. While some continue to receive government salaries, others have been deprived of even that.
Despite approaching management committees and education officials several times seeking reinstatement, many have found no resolution. In some cases, even court orders directing their return have not been implemented.
For these teachers, the final years of their careers have turned into a period of uncertainty, humiliation, and allegations.
Teachers’ Day is being observed across the country, including in Sylhet. But for those who remain outside their workplaces after becoming victims of mob pressure, the day brings little celebration. Instead, there are sighs and regrets.
Perhaps most strikingly, there has been little visible initiative from the education administration to restore teachers who were forced to resign. Their fate, in most cases, remains dependent on the management committees of private educational institutions.
Students at several educational institutions in Sylhet launched protests against their heads following the change in government. Local influential figures were allegedly involved, both openly and behind the scenes. In some cases, colleagues were also accused of encouraging the unrest.
Among the institutions affected were Blue Bird School and College, Kishori Mohan Girls’ High School, Model School and College, Shahjalal High School, South Surma High School, Bashtala Shahid Smrity High School in Dowarabazar upazila of Sunamganj, and Jogdol College in Derai upazila.
At least 10 to 12 educational institutions were affected, with their heads allegedly forced to resign amid mob pressure. Some have since returned to their positions. But the heads of at least seven or eight institutions have still not been able to return. A few have filed writ petitions, while others await decisions from their management committees.
‘Forced to sign a blank sheet’
Goura Ghosh, headteacher of Kishori Mohan Girls’ High School, said some of her students were forced to take part in the protests against her.
“Some students, who were very dear to me, were forced to join the movement against me. Some unruly people used them as a front and forcibly took my signature on a blank sheet of paper at my home,” she said.
She said two investigations had been conducted against her, but neither found any evidence of wrongdoing. “Even my government salary has been stopped without any reason,” she said.
She also alleged that authorities had ignored a court order issued following a writ petition. “The court ordered that I be reinstated. But the authorities are not considering the order. I have not even been formally informed that I have been suspended. They have simply left me in limbo,” she added.
Not a solitary incident
Mohammad Abdul Haque, headteacher of South Surma High School, said he was also forced to sign a blank sheet of paper after a mob gathered at his institution on 2 September 2024.
“I have been unable to enter the institution since then. I am receiving my government salary, but there is no environment for me to return to my workplace,” he said.
Suranjit Das, headteacher of Shahjalal High School, said protests against him began on 7 August 2024, followed by two demonstrations later that month. He was later sent on compulsory leave on 20 October.
“There is no specific allegation against me. Yet, I have not been allowed to return to my workplace,” he said, adding that his government salary had also been withheld since November of that year.
At Bashtala Shahid Smrity High School in Dowarabazar, Sunamganj, headteacher Jasim Uddin said efforts to remove him began soon after the change of government. After months of alleged manoeuvring, he was removed from the post on 30 December 2025.
“I helped build this institution from the ground up, joining as a peon. Those who drove me out through mob pressure were never seen coming forward for the institution’s welfare before this,” he said.
Professor Dr Didar Chowdhury, director of the Sylhet regional office of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), said the process of reinstating teachers forced to resign under mob pressure was ongoing.
“Some heads of institutions, including the principal of Blue Bird, have filed writ petitions. Their cases are being dealt with by the respective management committees,” he said.
He said some teachers who remain outside their institutions are still receiving government salary benefits, while others are not. “These matters are under our observation. They will be reinstated through the proper process,” he said.
For the teachers caught in this prolonged uncertainty, however, the promise of a “proper process” offers little comfort. Two years after the protests, classrooms have reopened, students have moved on, and another Teachers’ Day has arrived. But for many of those teachers, the doors of their own institutions remain closed.
