Recently, a BRAC University faculty, at a seminar titled “New Textbooks in Current Curriculum: Reality and Future” conducted by the National Teachers’ Forum, publicly tore the page which contained the story of “Sharif” to “Sharifa” in the history and social sciences book for class VII. With which there has been a reaction among the netizens on social media.
The now-former faculty, Asif Mahtab, complains: “There is a story of ‘Sharif’ becoming ‘Sharifa’ in the history and social science textbook. I bought the book from the market. It says that ‘when I was a child, everyone called me a boy. But I myself once realized that my body is that of a boy, even though I’m a girl at heart.’ If he is a girl then who will he marry? A boy, of course. Which means that it is homosexuality -- which is illegal in our country. But it is being legitimized by this story. This is nothing but an attempt to brainwash schoolchildren, just as what is being done in Europe and America.”
After this incident, I downloaded the story from the National Curriculum and Textbook Board website and gave it a thorough read -- I honestly did not find anything negative. The effects of Asif Mahtab’s rant about the story, and his attempts to spread panic and negativity about government textbooks among the public across the country, is already visible.
What I took away from reading the story is an account of the Hijra community, a community that has already been accepted in our country as the “third gender.” It is an account of their way of life and the various obstacles they have to face. The story made a point that these people are just regular people like any of us.
There is a question raised about one particular line: “Is it always possible to tell whether a person is a boy or a girl just by looking at them?” What is so absurd or indecent about this line of thinking? Walid Islam was recently named Bangladesh’s first “third gender diplomat,” and before becoming a diplomat no one knew whether Walid was a boy or a girl or of the third gender. Walid’s story reflects the struggles and aspirations of the entire community, the kind of story that the textbook is highlighting.
Asif Mahtab’s actions and words, whether indirectly or otherwise, can result in the further propagation of extremism. As a university teacher, he could have engaged the topics that the story deals with in a more cogent and reasonable manner, but the fact that he made a public show to literally tear out the page paints a more malevolent picture. He refused to recognize the transgender community as “humans.”
It is heartening to see that Brac University authorities have parted ways with Asif Mahtab from the university due to his actions. But it is equally disheartening to see his dismissal become such a contentious issue -- yes, there are mobs of people who are threatening to boycott Brac as an organization over this. While this shocks next to no one, it is still very disappointing.
It is incredibly important that we as a society started holding our teachers to a higher standard, as they are the ones who shape the minds of the youth. So-called educators such as Asif Mahtab need to be filtered out and perhaps offered counselling until they can see the errors of their judgement and recognize that excluding communities, who have historically been part of our society, from being considered anything less than human is the textbook definition of bigotry.
(This article was first published by Dhaka Tribune, Bangladesh).
