Over the past week, massive protests have swept across Bangladeshi university campuses including Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University following the government’s decision to abolish music and physical education teacher posts in primary schools. Cultural activists and educationists have criticized the move, calling it a setback for the nation’s creative and secular identity. While the government has not issued an official explanation, the decision came after pressure from Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam, which denounced music education as “un-Islamic” and demanded a greater focus on religious studies. In conversation with ThePrint, author and columnist Deep Halder talks about the pattern of Islamism rising within the largely pluralistic society.
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