Hathazari madrasa sets fire to 500 students' phones

After seizing around five hundred mobile phones from students, the authorities of Hathazari madrasa burned them on Sunday night. The smartphone sets were set on fire on the premises of the religious institute which is also known as Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam Madrasa located at Hathazari in Chittagong. Uploading photos of the destroyed mobile phone sets to his Facebook account, Rizwan Arman, a student of Hathazari Madrasa wrote that the seized mobile phones were put into two sacks which were doused with petrol and set on fire after Maghrib prayers on Sunday. The mobile phones were seized during a search operation by the Madrasa authorities in the student dormitories of the institution. Senior teacher of Hathazari Madrasa Mufti Jasim Uddin told Dhaka Tribune that students were asked not to use mobile phones containing videos of song and dance. “We have seized mobile phones from students which contain such videos. The students may use mobile phones in case of any emergency after obtaining permission from the authorities concerned, but mobile phones containing videos of song and dance hamper the academic environment,” said Mufti Jasim. On November 25 last year, Islamic hardliner Hefazat-e-Islam chief Shah Ahmed Shafi has said Jews spread mobile phones to destroy Muslims. He made the statement while presiding over a religious congregation in Chittagong. “Mobile phones are ruining our otherwise complete social system. Keep our sons and daughters away from mobile phones,” he said.