MP school invites ire for ‘action against sloganeering students’
CONTROVERSY School rejects rightwing members’ claim of suspension for chanting ‘Bharat mata ki jai’, probe on BHOPAL:
Right-wing members in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district observed a bandh on Monday over allegations that a missionary school took “punitive” action against a group of students reportedly for chanting ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ inside the school premises on Thursday.
Some locals staged a protest on Monday and submitted a memorandum of their demands to the district administration, alleging that 32 Class 9 students of St Joseph’s Convent School were not allowed to appear for their pre-board examination. The school management has denied it even as the police have decided to conduct a probe.
Amit Singh, superintendent of police (SP), Ratlam said following the bandh observed in Namli area, the police will investigate the matter. “I have directed subdivisional officer of police (SDOP) Saneev Mule to look into it to ascertain what happened in the school on Thursday morning and whether the students were stopped from appearing in the test. Statements of the school management will be recorded. We will also look into the background of the students who are said to have chanted the slogans,” he said. Singh said a contingent of police force was deployed in Namli. “Some 250 people had gathered to hand us a memorandum. Traders observed the bandh on their own. The situation is under control and there is no report of any untoward incident,” he added.
Ratlam-based RSS leader Ratanjeet Nigam said any objection to the chanting of the said slogan was “ethically, socially and constitutionally wrong and not acceptable at all”. “Why should students be told they can’t appear in the tests? We want the administration to probe the matter thoroughly and punish the guilty,” he said.
Gajendra Singh Chouhan, who lives near Namli, said over three thousand people gathered here to express their angst over the developments in the school.
School’s principal Mary V denied the allegation that students were not allowed to chant the slogan or that they were punished because of it. “On Thursday, after the morning prayers and the national anthem were sung, suddenly, 32 students of Class 9, with a strength of 45, began laughing, making noise and chanting the slogan. We are not opposed to chanting of ‘Baharat mata ki jai’. But they were making a mockery of it by laughing and making noise. I told them that this was not the way to chant it and their behaviour amounted to indiscipline.
“We have not rusticated anyone or stopped any student from appearing in the test. The main examinations are in February. These pre-board improvement tests are held by us for the benefit of the students. I postponed the test for some other reason. It had nothing to do with this. But I don’t know how and why rightwing members got involved and gathered outside the school gate that day,” she said.
The principal said there was a possibility some outside elements could be involved and this needs to be looked into as well.