DHAKA: A hardline Islamic school in Bangladesh said yesterday 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 with 14,000 registered students-was not against technology "but the negative results of mobile phones far outweigh its positives".- AFP