Bangladesh Islamic school burns cellphones

A hardline Islamic school in Bangladesh said Tuesday it had confiscated hundreds of mobile phones and torched them in a bonfire because they were distracting students from their learning.

Pupils at the seminary in southeast Bangladesh were ordered to hand over their cellphones Sunday to school administrators who then tossed the devices en masse into a fire in a nearby field.

“These devices are ruining their character,” said Azizul Hoque, a spokesman for the Darul Ulum Moinul Islam madrassa, or Islamic seminary.

“The students use internet [on their phones] throughout the night and then doze during classes the next morning. Their parents are concerned.”

Hoque said the seminary – a 123-year-old institution – was not against technology “but the negative results of mobile phones far outweigh its positives.”

“We are flooded with letters seeking fatwas [Islamic edicts] from Muslims against the use of mobile phones, as many complained that the gadgets were frequently used for extramarital affairs.”

Muslim-majority Bangladesh is officially secular but Muslim clerics are hugely influential.

The madrassa in Hathazari, outside the port city of Chittagong, is headed by Ahmad Shafi, the head of hardline Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam.

The movement has evolved into a political force in recent years agitating for Islamic rule.