School probed over ‘prayers’

A PRIVATE school in India is being investigated by police under a religious conversion law for holding multifaith prayers that included the Islamic declaration of faith, an officer said last Tuesday (2).

Video on social media showed students at the Florets International School in Kanpur reciting prayers that included texts from four major faiths – Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism. Several Hindu outfits and Hindu parents held street protests in the city last weekend.

Police on Tuesday said the school’s manager was being investigated under the law for offending religious beliefs following allegations by Hindu parents that the school was “preparing” the students to convert to Islam.

“We acted upon a complaint received from the Hindu parents objecting against the Islamic prayers,” Kanpur assistant commissioner of police Nishank Sharma said.

Sharma said an investigation has been opened but no arrests made yet.

The practice of reciting religious texts has been stopped at the school following the complaint, the officer added.

The school has rejected the conversion allegation and insisted that the multifaith prayers had been recited for over a decade at the institution.

“We stopped the prayers after some parents complained on Friday,” school principal Ankita Yadav, told reporters.