In shocking news coming from Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, a principal of secondary school allegedly beat students for not greeting him with “As-Salaam-Alaikum”. The Principal has now been suspended and a case has been registered against him.
Dimple Verma, Principal Secretary, and nodal officer of the district was on a visit to the Bilhari Secondary School in Tilhar area on Sunday where she was told that principal of the school, Chand Mian would demand students to greet him with “As-Salaam-Alaikum” and he would the beat the ones wishing him “good morning”, an official informed.
‘As-Salaam-Alaikum’ is a greeting in Arabic which means “Peace be upon you”. The greeting is a religious address among Muslims.
Priyanshu, a class VI student of the Bilhari Secondary School in Tilhar met with the principal secretary and nodal officer along with other locals, as they complained that since the students were unable to say “As-Salaam-Alaikum” they were beaten up. Priyanshu also showed injury marks on his neck to the visiting official, said Chief Development Officer Prerna Sharma.
Priyanshu’s case has now been handed over to Basic Shiksha Adikari (BSA) Rakesh Kumar for preliminary inquiry report and medical examination. About the development in the inquiry, Kumar said, “Principal Chand Mian has prima facie been found guilty of the charges and suspended…further inquiry is on.”
Though Chand Mian has rejected all the allegations and said that he was being maligned as part of some plot, an FIR has been registered against him. Ashok Pal, Station House Officer of Tilhar informed that on the complaint of Priyanshu’s mother Kamla, an FIR has been lodged.
Earlier, in the month of June, principal of a government school in Palakkad district of Kerala issued incongruous diktat; students were threatened with expulsion if they came to school with kumkum on their foreheads or had sacred threads on their wrists. The principal told the students that any sort of religious symbols in the school will not be allowed or permitted. Parents then protested against the diktat outside the school premises as they raised questions on the inclusion of communal agenda in the education curriculum that too when it is a governmental school and isn’t run by any religious trust.
They even alleged principal of issuing such diktats at the continuous basis and of sending a circular notice that the student would be terminated if the said instructions were not adhered to.
#BREAKING: No kumkum, religious symbols will be allowed in school in #Kerala. Principal threatens expulsion if rule not followed. Parents object new school rules; protest outside Govt.@RahulEaswar speaks to MIRROR NOW on #RightToDress pic.twitter.com/Jm1tXM3LSx
— Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) June 27, 2018
The same sort of incident took place in Tamil Nadu too, an evangelical principal of a government school ordered girl students not to wear flowers and bindi. According to parents, Ranibai the school principal presided over students’ meeting and had declared that students who wear the bindi, flowers or with sacred threads in their hands should not come to school. It should be understood that schools are meant for education and not for spreading communal hatred. These institutions of knowledge should remain sacrosanct and must be allowed to function in order to create a better society.