A court in southern Bangladesh sentenced two Hindu schoolteachers to six months in jail for making “abusive” remarks about Islam that led a mob to attack their school, a magistrate said Tuesday.
The head teacher and another staff member at the Hijla High School in the town of Chitalmari were found guilty of “hurting the religious sentiments” of Muslim students and their parents.
The comments sparked protests by students, most of whom are Muslim, and angry villagers descended on the school seeking to beat up the teachers before being stopped by police.
“They have made abusive comments about Islam and the Prophet Mohammed during a class session,” said magistrate Anwar Parvez, who handed down the verdict Monday after the teachers pleaded guilty.
“Local people attacked the school. They wanted to beat the two Hindu teachers,” Parvez told media.
Criticism of Islam is taboo in the majority-Sunni Muslim nation.
Read more: LGBT activist among two hacked to death in Bangladesh
The convictions come as concern mounts over extremism in conservative Bangladesh, which is reeling after a spate of murders of minorities and secular activists.
In recent years, suspected home-grown militants have targeted secular activists and writers who have criticised Islam and radical Muslims.
On Monday, two gay rights activists were hacked to death in attacks by suspected militants.
Two days earlier a liberal professor was murdered in a north-western city, a killing claimed by Islamic State militants.
A long-running political crisis in Bangladesh has radicalised opponents of the government and analysts say extremists pose a growing danger.
Read more: Bangladesh professor hacked to death in extremist attack
