An argument broke out in Kushtia Sadar Upazila between a young man and a bird hunter who was seen walking along the road with an airgun. The man carrying the airgun was identified as Shahjahan Ali, an assistant teacher at Swastipur Secondary School. The young man involved in the altercation introduced himself as a local mosque imam. After a video of the incident went viral on Facebook, it sparked widespread discussion and criticism.
On Monday morning, Kushtia Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Roknuzzaman confirmed the incident to Prothom Alo. He said the school’s headmaster had been instructed to issue a show-cause notice to the teacher. In addition, the Forest Department will file a regular case against him, as the use of airguns is prohibited by law. The process of seizing the airgun is currently underway.
In the two-minute video, Shahjahan Ali is seen wearing winter clothing and walking with an airgun in his hand, accompanied by two or three children. A verbal altercation takes place between him and a young man, who questions why he is killing birds. Shahjahan responds that he is not hunting birds but merely “scaring them away,” adding that he is a high school teacher and did not come to judge right or wrong. The young man insists that bird hunting is not allowed in the area.
At one point, the young man asks to inspect Shahjahan’s bag and says, “What would you do if someone shot your child? You cannot kill birds under any circumstances.” The argument continues before Shahjahan quickly walks away. In the video, the young man, identifying himself as an imam, questions how a high school teacher could engage in bird hunting and calls on the authorities to take action.
Swastipur Secondary School’s assistant head teacher, Nurul Islam, said he had seen the video and that the school president had informed the UNO. He added that the UNO summoned the head teacher, Ruhul Amin, and instructed him to issue a show-cause notice to Shahjahan Ali.
However, Shahjahan Ali denied the allegations. He said the video was recorded last Friday and claimed that he has a pond on his two-and-a-half bigha of land, where herons often come and take fish. According to him, he has been using the airgun for the past five years solely to scare away the birds. He also stated that the airgun was inherited from his father, who used it during his lifetime, and insisted that the accusations against him are false and that he does not hunt birds.
