Catholic-run institutions remain in disarray after Bangladesh uprising

Educational institutions run by the Catholic Church and financial organizations run by Christians were destroyed after the overthrow of the autocratic government in Bangladesh in early August.

After a student uprising on August 5 that killed hundreds, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country. Since then, students at some Catholic schools have called for the dismissal of some teachers, saying they are supporters of Hasina’s government.

Following the uprising, Dhaka Archbishop Bejoy Nicephorus D’Cruze decided to close Catholic schools, Jyoti F. Gomes, secretary of the Bangladesh Catholic Education Board, told National Catholic Reporter.

On August 18, the government reopened all schools and colleges, but on August 24, D’Cruze called for the indefinite closure of all Catholic educational institutes in Dhaka’s Nawabganj district due to the unprecedented situation. Church officials also closed several schools in the port city of Chittagong, North Dinajpur and Sylhet.

Notre Dame University Bangladesh, the only Catholic-run university in a Muslim-majority country, has also had its share of problems. Students have called for the resignation of its vice-chancellor, Holy Cross Fr. Lawrence N. Das, alleging that he had failed to cooperate with the student protests during the uprising. University officials have upgraded him to a faculty member.

The Archbishop said that Catholic institutes would reopen once the “misunderstandings” had ended and all parties involved had reached an agreement.

Gomes said D’Cruze also requested protection from education adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud in a letter sent on August 25.

He also said that some schools maintained by the Church have problems, caused either by teachers themselves or by students who are creating problems for themselves after the fall of the government.

According to the Bangladesh Catholic Education Council, Christians run one university, 18 colleges, 80 secondary schools and almost 1,000 primary and kindergarten schools, educating almost 300,000 students a year, mostly Muslims.

Currently, Christians in Bangladesh are demanding reform of Christian financial organizations, emphasizing that they need reforms in leadership.

Christian activists, including young students, are demanding a change of leadership, accusing Christian leaders, who maintained close ties with the former prime minister’s regime that ruled the country for 15 years, of pursuing partisan politics and committing abuses, including corruption.

The two most important financial organisations run by lay people are the Metropolitan Christian Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. and the Christian Co-operative Credit Union Ltd. Protesters claimed that these organisations were highly politicised.

Jackson Gomes, a young Catholic, told NCR that the leaders of the financial institutions were “well-connected with several ministers of the ousted Hasina government and were abusing the power of the autocratic government. We, the young Christians, hate this autocracy and want unity and democracy in the state as well as in the church and our other organizations.”

While the Christian Co-operative Credit Union has some 45,000 members and assets estimated at US$108.3 million, the Metropolitan Christian Co-operative Housing Society has almost 30,000 members and assets estimated at US$250 million.

Protesters are demanding a resolution to the divide in the small Christian community, where Christians make up less than 1% of the country’s 170 million population.

D’Cruze has already organised meetings with protesters and Christian leaders of financial institutions.

“I asked both sides to resolve the issue and call for unity among Christians. I hope they will unite soon,” he said.

According to Christian leaders, there are about 1,000 cooperative savings and credit unions in Bangladesh, of which more than 250 are run by Christians.

Holy Cross Fr. Liton Hubert Gomes, secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Bangladesh Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said some lay Catholic leaders take power for a long time. Comparing them to Hasina, he said they are also intolerant of criticism and dissent.

“We are clergy and we did not want to get involved in any politics, whether it is state or community, but we always talk to our lay leaders about unity and peace in the community. Our bishops are also in dialogue with them to resolve the issue,” the priest said.