Police asked to reveal cause for kids’ grilling

Acourt yesterday ordered the Karnataka government to explain why police interrogated children who performed a play critical of a new law, a lawyer said, in a case that has raised questions about freedom of speech.

The parliament in December passed a law, championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aimed at facilitating citizenship for migrant members of nonMuslim religions from neighbouring countries.

Critics say the law violates India’s secular constitution and discriminates against minority Muslims.

At least 25 people have been killed in protests against it.

Students at a school in Karnataka performed a satirical play on January 21 in which reference were made to “dictators” and dialogue that suggested hitting Modi.

Police, lawyers and school officials said that following a complaint from a member of the public, the headmistress of the school, Farida Begum, and the mother of one of the children who took part in the play were arrested on January 30.

Police later questioned children as young as nine, some of them as many as five times, said Thouseef Madikeri, chief executive of a foundation that runs the Shaheen English Primary and High School, and Narayan Ganesh, a lawyer for the two accused women.

Karnataka’s top court yesterday gave the state government, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), until next Wednesday to respond to a rights group’s allegations that police illegally questioned the children, said Nayana Jhawar, a lawyer for the group.

A senior police official, Basweshwar H, said the incident was being investigated. He declined to comment further.

According to an initial police report, the complainant accused school officials of raising “ill-will and fear among communities” by staging the play.