The interim government of Muhammad Yunus has withdrawn its plan to appoint music and physical education teachers in government-run primary schools, bowing to pressure from hardline Islamist groups that branded the move “un-Islamic” and “irrelevant.”
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Primary and Mass Education announced the decision on Monday, stating that the newly created posts for music and physical education teachers had been dropped.
The reversal follows months of protests and warnings from Islamist organisations threatening to take to the streets if the decision was not revoked.
“Although the rules issued last August had four categories of posts, two categories have been included in the amendment. The posts of assistant teachers for music and physical education are not in the new rules,” said ministry official Masud Akhtar Khan.
When asked whether the move was a result of pressure from religious groups, he declined to comment, “You can check for yourself.”
The decision mirrors a pattern of growing religious conservatism in Bangladesh, drawing comparisons to the Taliban’s ban on music education in Afghanistan.
Analysts say the Yunus administration appears to be yielding to Islamist sentiment that has resurfaced since the fall of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Islamist groups, which were largely restrained under Hasina’s tenure, have become increasingly vocal under the current interim government.
In recent months, they have amplified anti-Hindu and anti-India rhetoric and even demanded a ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), calling it an “extremist organisation.”
Also Read : Yunus fuels row by gifting map with India’s NE to Pak General
Islamist organisations had urged the government to hire only religious instructors in primary schools, claiming music and physical education were “forced and irrelevant” to Islamic teachings.
During a September rally organised by the Jatiya Olama Mashayekh Aima Parishad, attended by members of Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolon Bangladesh, Khelafat Majlish, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, and Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon, participants denounced the plan as an “anti-Islamic agenda.”
Islami Andolon Bangladesh chief Syed Rezaul Karim said, “When we took religious studies as children, there were separate teachers for Hindus and Muslims. But now, you want to appoint music teachers? What will they teach? What are your intentions? You want to make our children disrespectful and characterless? We will never tolerate that.”
He warned that the “Islam-loving and religion-loving people” of Bangladesh would be “forced to take to the streets” if the Yunus administration ignored their demands.
Hefazat-e-Islam, a prominent Deobandi Islamist advocacy group, also condemned the government’s plan as “anti-Islamic” and demanded its immediate cancellation.
This is not the first time the Yunus administration has backed down under Islamist pressure. Earlier this year, the government shelved the proposals of a women’s reform commission after radical groups threatened violent consequences.
One Islamist organisation warned that members of the interim government “wouldn’t even get five minutes to escape” if they defied their warnings, a reference to the 45 minutes Sheikh Hasina reportedly had to flee the country in August 2024.
The current political crisis began in July–August 2024, when student protests were infiltrated by Islamist factions. The violence that followed led to Hasina’s ouster and the installation of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as head of an interim administration.
A year later, the government’s latest reversal on the hiring of music and physical education teachers highlights the growing influence of Islamist groups over state policy.
Critics say the move threatens Bangladesh’s secular education system and erodes the nation’s long-standing commitment to cultural pluralism, a cornerstone of its founding identity.
The capitulation, observers warn, signals a deepening shift toward religious rigidity in a country once celebrated for its inclusive ethos.
Follow us
