Khaleque's name comes in school exam questions

Class-X students of Pioneer Secondary Girls School and their guardians were bewildered seeing questions on former Khulna city mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque in the Islamic Studies quiz on Thursday.
"What other virtues of Khalifa Hazrat Omar does Talukder Abdul Khaleque need to follow to establish himself as an ideal mayor?" is a question the students were asked to answer elaborately.
The question paper had a paragraph about Khaleque, the ruling Awami League-led alliance backed candidate seeking re-election, and it was followed by four questions, two of which was on the former mayor of Khulna City Corporation.
The paragraph read: "Elected mayor of Khulna municipality Mr Talukder Abdul Khaleque punished his elder son Abdul Halim accordingly following investigation into serious allegations. Khaleque received accolade from people for his action. Criminal activities reduced and peace was restored in society.”
The other question was: What virtue of Hazrat Omar was reflected in mayor Abdul Khaleque.
The two questions carried seven out of 10 marks.
Khaleque's rival in the electoral race Moniruzzaman Moni, who is backed by the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance, disclosed the matter before the media at a press conference yesterday. He alleged violation of electoral code of conduct.
However, Khaleque at another press conference said he knew nothing about the question paper. The school managing committee, headmaster and teachers would know better, he said.
Khaleque is childless.
Interestingly, Halima Islam, who has ruling Awami League's backing in her bid to become elected as a councillor in Ward-8, is the chief of the managing committee of Pioneer Secondary Girls School.
Headmistress Jafroza Khanam of the school told The Daily Star, “We did not prepare the question paper. We bought it from Printek Press.”
Terming it a mistake, she said, “As most of our teachers were busy with electoral training ahead of the city corporation polls, we could not go through the question paper. The same question paper was used in some other schools as well.”
Jafroza said they would take necessary action regarding the matter after the city corporation polls today.
Nuruzzaman Monu owner of Printek Press could not be contacted for comments last night.