Teaching science in Bangladesh is highly risky!

Free Teacher Hridoy Mondal – Science Education Should Never be Punished

Immediate release of science teacher Hridoy Mondal is demanded.

Religion and science are two entirely different things. There is no overlap between them. Just as many religious claims don’t align with science, many scientific facts don’t align with religion. Religion is a matter of belief. If there are facts, evidence, logic, or conditions, it ceases to be belief. Belief is something where no questions can be asked. On the other hand, science is entirely about data, evidence, experimentation, verification, and acceptance or rejection. Just saying something doesn’t make it science.

Imagine you’ve never met Mr. X. He comes to you and says he’s a good person and needs to borrow 500 taka. You lend him the money – you believed him. Now you lend money to Mr. Y because you know he often borrows from you and others and always returns it properly. That’s trust. Belief and trust are not the same. Now suppose you have a robot. You give it 500 taka and instruct it to bring something from the store. If there are no obstacles and no system errors, it will bring the item without fail. That’s science. Belief itself is blind – if you demand proof or attach conditions, it’s no longer belief.

If religious topics come up in a science class, they must be viewed through the lens of science. Similarly, if scientific topics come up in a religion class, they must be viewed through religious perspectives. For example, evolution is an integral part of biology, but religion doesn’t support it. If a biology teacher teaches evolution and a student tries to disprove it using religious arguments, that’s an irrelevant act.

In the past 20 years, many people in Bangladesh have become religiously fanatical. To them, scientifically proven facts don’t seem valid if they don’t align with religion. Hridoy Mondal, a teacher from Munshiganj, teaches science and appears to be a good and successful educator. Due to youthful impulsiveness and social influences, students provoked him into saying certain things and recorded it. In response to a student’s question in class, a teacher can certainly share his knowledge – even if it contradicts someone’s opinion. Yet, under pressure from students and the public, Hridoy Mondal was jailed. This was a deeply inappropriate and shortsighted act. It’s a sad and disappointing situation for the nation. The person who deserves praise is now behind bars. This is today’s Bangladesh.

For several years, a book called “Paradoxical Sajid” has been widely read by young people. It even became a bestseller at the book fair. That alone says a lot about the standard of readers in the country. The book is full of low-quality logical fallacies. Young readers think they’ve learned something profound, but what they’re absorbing is pseudoscience. In the end, their education and understanding remain immature. A book that should be sold by street vendors on buses and trains is instead featured at the Bangla Academy book fair—and has been a bestseller for years. That’s when I realized a time is coming when religious fanatics will be the ones grading science education. With the rise of religious sermons online and communal writings, a segment of society has begun to believe they are superior and others are inferior. They think they possess all knowledge. Yet by scientific standards, they are ignorant. And this ignorant segment is growing in Bangladesh day by day.

Science has always had to challenge many traditional beliefs and religious doctrines to move forward. When Galileo said the Earth is round and revolves around the Sun, he probably wouldn’t have won any votes. But would that make the majority opinion correct? Those who understand the scientific method know that nothing is easily established in science, nor can any established and proven concept be easily disproven. Science must be guided by scientific principles. Religious doctrines cannot dictate the path of science. If we want civilization, progress, and the awakening of human values, science must be prioritized.

Where is the country’s teaching community? A fellow educator was jailed for a classroom discussion, and thousands of enraged people tried to assault him. What is the teaching community doing? This country supposedly has over fifty public universities, along with even more private universities and medical colleges. With so many educators, how is everyone silent while someone like Hridoy Mondal is being harassed? This silence will cost us dearly. Immediate release of science teacher Hridoy Mondal is demanded. Knowledge and education should not be met with shackles!

Transcript of the classroom conversation between teacher Hridoy Mondal and students:

This is a science class, not a religion class. Science is proven through experimentation. Religion is based on belief.

Transcript of the conversation between science teacher Hridoy Mondal and tenth-grade students of Ramkumar High School in Munshiganj. The 13-minute recording was made by the students themselves and later posted on Facebook. Much of the conversation was in the regional dialect of Munshiganj, so it was edited into standard Bengali with help from locals. Hridoy Mondal must be released immediately and his safety ensured.

[00:00]
Teacher: Has anyone seen it? No one has seen anything. They’ve placed it on belief. When you study more science, you’ll see how much more is coming. The truth is, we either don’t understand or don’t want to know the truth. Look, the developed world is moving away from religion. And we are becoming fanatics.

[00:35]
Student: Many ideas and theories have come from religion. Scientists discovered these from religion.
Teacher: Nothing has been taken from religion. Not in any way. Rather, religion has borrowed from science – religion was constructed from it.

[01:10]
Student: Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) gave us all the sources of science. Four and a half thousand years ago, he spoke of these scientific ideas.
Teacher: How could it be four and a half thousand years ago? Prophet Muhammad lived fourteen and a half hundred years ago. Scientists began making discoveries long before that. It’s not that science began during the Prophet’s time.

[01:30]
Student: Yes sir, those who spoke before Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) didn’t make logical sense. But everything our Prophet said is rational. Scientists have found proof.
Teacher: What exactly did Prophet Muhammad say that scientists have proven directly from him? Was there any discovery that scientists couldn’t make before him? This is a science class, not a religion class. Science is proven through experimentation. Religion is based on belief.

[02:00]
Student: Sir, there’s a lot of evidence that religion is scientific.
Teacher: Religion has no evidence. Do you know where religious explanations ultimately lead? They end with “God will resolve it,” “Judgment will happen in the afterlife.” These are matters of belief. There’s no proof.

[02:15]
Student: There’s a book, you should read it. It’s called “Theory of Everything.” It explains how the yolk is inside the egg – Allah mentioned it long ago.
Teacher: I’ve read everything. Do you think I became a science teacher without reading? These are all patchwork claims. That book doesn’t say anything like that. In fact, religion is written by humans. All religions are human-made.

[02:45]
Student: But science is also written by humans.
Teacher: Yes, science is certainly written by humans.

[02:55]
Student: Sir, religion has proof.
Teacher: Then show me what proof religion has.

[02:04]
Student: What are you saying, sir! There’s been global research on Muslims. Everyone sees Islam is the truth. It’s the true religion, all others are false. Scientists have proven this.
Teacher: If the Quran is the source of science, then show me how many scientists became scientists by reading the Quran. 90% of the world’s scientists are Christian or come from Christian families.

[03:24]
Student: Sir, if we bring religion into science, it becomes science. And if we bring science into religion, it becomes religion. Basically, they’re the same thing.
Teacher: Look at the Christians who’ve made so many discoveries – none of them strictly follow religious rules. Couldn’t they have turned religion into a business? Of course they could. Are they doing that? No. They’re focused on discovery. If Muslims want to progress, they must advance in knowledge and science. That’s not possible if religious fanaticism increases. Islam came 1400 years ago. Science has advanced in the last 200 to 300 years. So what have the religious scholars been doing all this time? What have they discovered?

[04:40]
Student: From the beginning, whatever the scholars said was accepted as science.
Teacher: What science have your scholars studied? What do they know? They haven’t studied science in that sense. Take Darwin, for example – did Darwin become a scientist by reading religious texts?

[05:08]
Student: Sir, what’s the proof that Darwin didn’t read religious texts?
Teacher: Most of them don’t read religious texts at all.

[05:10]
Student: Sir, atheists are fine. But they made discoveries by reading religious texts. They found proof in religion.
Teacher: Those discoveries didn’t come from religious texts. Which surah or hadith contains the formula for a discovery? Religion is based on imagined beliefs. What connection does it have with reality? Yes, there is a Creator. If there weren’t, where did trees and plants come from? Humans didn’t create them. Humans can’t create soil. A baby in the womb or a chick from an egg – there must be a power behind it. Whose power is that? That’s Allah, that’s God. And Prophet Muhammad – what is he? He is a great man. But he is not God.

[06:15]
Student: They gave us knowledge.
Teacher: Perhaps moral knowledge. Religion gives people some rules for living. People follow those. But is there nothing beyond that? Of course there is much beyond religious texts. Religion came to keep people disciplined – nothing more.
We’re told there is a Creator, but we haven’t seen Him. What’s the point of fighting over something unseen? Keep your belief in its place. Science is based on proof. It reaches conclusions through experimentation. But blind faith leads to things like wearing robes in extreme heat. That’s not scientific.
Electricity flowing through wires to light a bulb – that’s science. The formula for (A+B)² – that’s science, based on calculation and proof. Are these in religious texts? Often we try to align science with religion, which is incorrect. Yes, religion helps keep people disciplined. But science is a separate matter. Science is science.

[08:27]
Student: Read the book “Paradoxical Sajid,” sir. You’ll find it on Google Play Store.
Teacher: I’ve read it. I read science books regularly. I’ve read these patchwork books too. I don’t need to learn science from that. Muslims preach religion like Muslims, Hindus like Hindus, and Christians like Christians. This conflict is all about race and religion.

[09:00]
Student: What if we say scientists are taking credit for science by incorporating elements from religion?
Teacher: But science comes with proof. What connection does religion have with science? Why would there be any need for borrowing? Science isn’t based on belief.

[09:12]
Student: If we could go back 1400 years, we’d see all the evidence right in front of us.
Teacher: Religious texts were written 1400 years ago. Where were they before that? Was there no humanity? No civilization? Then?

[09:26]
Student: There were three books before the Quran.
Teacher: Yes, there was Zabur, and the Injil was from 2500 years ago. Buddhists had their texts. Our Hindu religion had the Vedas – at most 7000 years old. So what? Humans have existed on Earth for hundreds of thousands of years. Where were these texts then? So now we speak of religion based on what we have. But we argue over religion! Why? We shouldn’t argue. We should learn and understand. No need for conflict over religion. That means you should act with understanding. Don’t jump just because religion says something. If religion says a kite took your ear, you don’t chase the kite. That’s not how it works.
Hanuman supposedly kept the sun inside his ear. Many elders in Hinduism truly believe this. But if Hanuman kept the sun in his ear, then the sun is 1.3 million times larger than Earth. Earth is 1.3 million times smaller than the sun! So how could Hanuman, standing on this tiny Earth, fit the sun in his ear?
Should we believe such absurd stories? Why should we? Almost every religion has such fantastical tales. We must stay aware. Talking about these leads to debate. Let’s begin your lesson. No point in getting into these debates.
Religion has good and bad sides. If there’s good, there must be bad. You see daylight – how did it come? Because there’s night, we can define day.
This black bag – how do you know it’s black? This red bag – why do you all see it as red?
This is science. Science is clear. Science is reality.
Who spreads these absurd stories? Bad people do.
They spread these tales to keep their business going.
Take the Hanuman story – educated Hindus don’t believe it. Only the ignorant do. Some people wander around all day, don’t work, scam others for food. They make disciples out of the ignorant. Then they sit and eat. They’re the ones who say Hanuman has the sun in his ear, and the ignorant give them money.
You’ve studied. You’ll read religious texts. Why jump at others’ words? You’re not ignorant.

[12:50]
Student: Sir, we’re getting all this from reading the Quran. Plus, we listen to sermons – we’re learning a lot from them.
Teacher: You listen to sermons, but have you thought about the kinds of things they say? They incite violence, spread nonsense, promote hatred. Why accept religion just by listening? Read and understand religion yourself.

[ Transcript source: Facebook ]

Will the country rise above this situation?

The boy stepped into the wrong waters by mistake
The boy read the wrong book by mistake…
The boy doesn’t know how far he’s wandered
There’s no way back – none, helpless.
— Poet Rafik Azad

Don’t be surprised by the arrest of science teacher Hridoy Mondal. Those who learn science from the pseudoscientific, ignorance-filled book “Paradoxical Sajid,” and who clash over religion and science in this internet age, are a nation ignorant by choice. No one holds the rescue tools for them.

The same conflict between religion and science that plagued Europe in the Middle Ages is now affecting the majority of ignorant people in our country! Can you guess why? It’s all due to compromises in the education system. Not integrating basic science education, the trend of memorizing guidebooks for BCS exams by 66% of youth, encouraging religious fanaticism, and early childhood brainwashing through family, society, and YouTube – these are the reasons.

To break a nation’s backbone, you must destroy its education system. Bangladesh’s backbone is broken. That’s why I no longer have hope for the country. There’s no chance of change for the next 100 to 200 years. A nation that still jails teachers for teaching a proven scientific theory like evolution, and values religion over all worldly wrongdoings, will collapse under the weight of its own religious hypocrisy. Nothing extra is needed.

I remember Professor Humayun Azad. With astonishing skill and detachment, he described our declining condition in his writings and daily conversations. We unfortunate ones never fully grasped the importance of his words – or even if we did, we failed to act on them in time.