A viral video of a Bangladeshi schoolteacher carrying an airgun has triggered legal action, reviving debates on wildlife protection, public safety and educators’ ethical responsibilities.
A secondary school teacher in western Bangladesh is facing administrative and legal action after a video showing him walking along a public road with an airgun triggered widespread debate over wildlife protection, public safety and the responsibilities of educators.
The incident occurred in Kushtia Sadar upazila, where Shahjahan Ali, an assistant teacher at Swastipur Secondary School, was filmed arguing with a young man who identified himself as a local mosque imam. The two-minute video, which circulated widely on Facebook, shows Ali holding an airgun while walking with two or three children nearby.
The incident has reignited debate in Bangladesh over the enforcement of wildlife protection laws, where illegal bird hunting remains a recurring concern despite existing regulations. Environmental activists have increasingly used social media to document and challenge such practices and often prompt administrative action.
The case has also raised broader questions about public safety and professional ethics, particularly the role of educators as community role models. As Bangladesh faces mounting biodiversity loss, the viral video underscores how citizen intervention and digital platforms are playing a growing role in shaping environmental accountability, sometimes faster than formal enforcement mechanisms can respond.
In the footage, the young man confronts Ali and accuses him of hunting birds in the area. Ali denies the allegation, saying he is not killing birds and introducing himself as a high school teacher. The exchange escalates as the young man insists that bird hunting is prohibited and warns about the dangers of carrying an airgun in a public space, particularly in the presence of children. Ali eventually walks away while the man appeals for administrative intervention, questioning how a schoolteacher could engage in such conduct.
School officials said the matter had been formally escalated. Nurul Islam, assistant headteacher of Swastipur Secondary School, said the video had been reviewed by the school management committee. “Our headteacher was called by the UNO, who instructed that the teacher concerned be served a show-cause notice,” he said.
Ali has rejected the accusations, saying the video was recorded last Friday and that he had been misunderstood. He claimed he uses the airgun solely to scare away birds from a pond on his land. “I have a pond on my two-and-a-half bighas of land. Herons come there and take fish,” he said. “I have been using this airgun for five years to frighten them away and not to hunt birds. I inherited it from my father, who used it before me.” He described the allegations as false and insisted that he does not engage in bird hunting.
On Monday, Kushtia Sadar’s upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), Md Roknujjaman, confirmed that the incident was genuine. He said the school authorities had been instructed to issue a show-cause notice to the teacher. “The forest department will file a regular case against him today,” the UNO said, adding that the use of airguns is restricted under Bangladesh’s wildlife and public safety regulations. He also confirmed that steps were underway to seize the weapon.
