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This week the whole left-liberal media outlets and supporters swung in action, as soon as the video clip of a woman teacher asking fellow students to beat a student went viral. The very next day to the Muzaffarnagar case, an opposite case was reported from Jammu & Kashmir’s Kathua. Here, a minor Hindu boy was thrashed for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans on the blackboard.
Well, this was not the only incident reported over the past where Hindu students have faced rustication, abuse and punishments for showcasing their religious identity via Tilak, Kalawa or any other religious symbol.
For our readers, Organiser brings a list of 15 cases where Hindu students have faced threats, abuses, punishments, or suspensions for wearing Tilak, Kalawa, and chanting Jai Shri Ram.
Jammu & Kashmir: Minor thrashed for writing Jai Shri Ram slogan
A new case was reported from Jammu & Kashmir, where a teacher has been arrested for thrashing a minor for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’. The teacher has been identified as Farooq Ahmed. Whereas the minor was a student at the Government Higher Secondary School (Bani).
As per the reports, Ahmed thrashed a Class 10 student for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the classroom blackboard, leading to widespread protests against him. The police registered an FIR against the accused teacher and the school’s principal. Police said the principal is absconding from the authorities.
According to the reports, the victim’s father, Kuldeep Singh, submitted a complaint against Ahmed and Hafiz at the police station on August 25, alleging they beat up his son. Based on his complaint, an FIR was registered against the duo at Police Station Bani under relevant Sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.
As per the reports, the teacher and the principal face charges under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 75 (cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
Jharkhand: Minor killed self after being slapped for wearing Bindi in school
A case of how hurting someone’s religious and cultural sentiments can lead to death was reported in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district. Where a 17-year-old Hindu girl killed herself after her teacher at Saint Xavier School insulted her in front of the whole school.
She wrote a suicide letter before hanging from the ceiling fan and named the teacher as the reason for her suicide. She said, “I am not able to digest the insult, so killing myself”.
The minor victim was identified as Usha Kumari, a student of class 10 who studied at Saint Xavier school and a resident of the Hanumangarhi colony in Dhanbad.
Usha was upset over her insult in front of the whole class. Notably, one of her teachers identified as Sindu Mam, not only scolded Usha but also slapped her for wearing a Bindi at the school. Usha committed suicide on July 10 in her house.
Notably, the victim’s mother, Vandana Devi in her statements to the media said, Usha went to the school on July 10 and was sent back home after insulting badly. She told Vandana everything after which Usha and her mother reached school to meet the principal. Usha was scolded for wearing Bindi in school. When they reached the campus, they too were insulted and sent back.
A First Information Report (number–33/2023) was registered at the Tetulmari police station on July 10. The accused have been booked under IPC sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 (acts done by several people with common intention).
Jharkhand: Student beaten for wearing Kalawa in school
On July 20, reports of Hindu activists protesting outside a missionary school in Bokaro, Jharkhand, came out. The activists assembled outside the school on July 18, after a minor Hindu boy was thrashed by the teachers for wearing ‘Kalawa’ (a sacred thread). It is noteworthy that the accused is aided by government funds and is present almost in every state of India, ‘The Carmel Convent’ school.
As per the reports, a class 9 student of the convent school was punished for allegedly wearing a ‘Kalawa.’ The teachers made him cut the thread. Following this information, the Hindu activists assembled at the school and protested. They also met the principal of the school, Sister Joyce Kullu A.C. The activists demanded that the principal initiate an inquiry into the case and take immediate action against the accused teacher.
As per the details shared by the activists, on July 18, the Hindu student reached school wearing a Kalawa. The monitor of his classroom complained about this to a school teacher named Amit Lakda. The teacher, in turn, scolded Karan and asked him to remove it. He told the student that wearing the sacred thread was forbidden in school and ordered him to remove it immediately.
As per the media reports, the student refused to remove the thread, saying, it was a matter of his faith. Angered by this, the teacher started beating and humiliating him in front of the class. Later, the teacher cut the Kalawa tied to his wrist with a blade. He reprimanded the student and asked him to get his father to school the next day.
Jharkhand: Principal suspended whole class for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’
Shocking reports came to light from Jharkhand’s Bokaro district after, the principal of a missionary school suspended the entire class on chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans. Members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanded action. However, the principal said, the action was taken against the indiscipline by the students, not for the slogan.
On April 11, the school called the parents of all the students in class 10. They were informed that their children have been suspended for two days.
As per the media reports, the principal of the school Alisha Manjuni, the students were suspended for one day only. She also added that the action was taken against some of the students only, not the whole class.
Rajasthan: Suspension for wearing Tilak in school
On July 25, a Hindu student was beaten up by Muslim classmates for putting Tilak on his forehead in the Alwar district of Rajasthan. The incident occurred in a government-run school.
As per the reports, the Hindu student reached school wearing Tilak and he was asked to remove it by fellow Muslim students. When he did not adhere to their demands the latter thrashed him and forcefully removed his Tilak.
The matter turned so big that the victim’s family lodged an FIR against the perpetrator at the Ramgarh police station. The accused after the FIR has been booked under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 295A (hurting religious sentiments).
Notably, the students not only thrashed the Hindu students but his family members as well. One of the victim’s relatives sustained a fracture.
Following the incident, Muslim students protested against Hindus wearing Tilak at school. However, from the next day on, more and more Hindu students started wearing tilaks in school.
Rajasthan: Poster of Hanumaji torn in the class
A poster of Hanumaji was torn by the school authorities at a Missionary school. The incident took place on July 27 at the Our Lady of Pillar Convent School, Gangana Road, Pal village in Jodhpur.
Following the incident, Hindus in huge numbers assembled outside the school and protested against the school administration. Amid much sloganeering, it turned into a big protest.
As per the protestors, the Hindu students, mostly from the Jat community, put up a poster of Hanuman Ji in the class. However, the teachers were against the move, and they tore it off, saying no display of any other religion could be allowed on the school campus.
It is noteworthy that these Missionary schools have churches in them, students are asked to attend prayers where recitations are made from the Bible, and classrooms carry posters of Jesus.
Madhya Pradesh: Teacher stopped prayer as students recited Gayatri Mantra in school
A video went viral from Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district, where students were scolded by the principal for chanting the Gayatri Mantra during the prayers. The school is a government CM Rise school. Following the video, the Department of Education has initiated a probe into the matter.
The incident took place at the school situated in Biaora town of the district on July 26 morning.
The principal of the school, Dushyant Rana scolded the students after teacher Mazida reached out to him and said something.
Sharing a video of the incident, a verified Twitter user wrote, “CM Rise School, MP: Teacher, Mazida Ma’am got offended when students began chanting Gayatri Mantra. She rushed to the principal and whispered something in his ears. The principal immediately stopped the Gayatri Mantra while Mazida Ma’am scolded the person recording this video.”
Tamil Nadu: Teacher boasts about cutting Kalawa as a great act
On August 24 this year, a school teacher from Tamil Nadu named Udaya Lakshmi shared a Facebook post (now deleted) wherein she boasted about forcefully removing the sacred thread (Kalawas) from the wrists of Hindu students.
As per her Facebook post, Lakshmi lined up Hindu students and forcefully removed their Kalawas. She also boasted about brainwashing the minor students and claimed to have instilled the belief that they should not adorn Hindu symbols like Kalawa.
She also vowed to put the students under constant surveillance. “I finished important work today in class. I made all the students who were tying sacred threads in their hands stand in a line and cut the sacred threads with scissors. I explained why not to tie the sacred thread,” the teacher wrote in her Facebook post.
“On the order of the Chief Minister, he came from the police station for three consecutive days and spoke about social justice and equality in the school morning meeting. But cutting the sacred threads of students can be a starting point for discussion and understanding,” she further added.
Madhya Pradesh: Student beaten for wearing Kada at school
Two instructors physically attacked a Hindu student on August 26 at the Ujra Government School in the Chhatarpur region of Madhya Pradesh because the student was sporting a kada (sacred bracelet).
Shafiq Khan and Bhupendra Verma were named as the allegedly wrongdoing educators. The victim, a Class 11 student, was seen wearing the holy bracelet as she arrived at school. Khan and Verma gave him the order to take the kada away after learning about the situation.
The young man emphasised that it was his religious symbol and that he was unable to remove it. After learning that, the two beat the victim and had him throw the holy bracelet down the toilet. They allegedly threatened to fail him in the exam and forced him to stand on the desk as punishment.
Madhya Pradesh: Minor thrashed for writing Jai Shri Ram on the blackboard
On August 27, a Hindu student was harassed by his class teacher for writing the sacred chant of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the blackboard at a community school in the Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh.
On learning about the matter, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) reached the school and demanded strict action against the accused teacher. They also recited the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ and held demonstrations against the management of the school.
Following assurance of strict action by the local police, they ended their protest.
Jammu & Kashmir: Minor girl student thrashed for sporting Tilak during Navratri
Govt. school teacher Nisar Ahmed was suspended for physically assaulting a minor girl student in Rajouri, J&K. The family of the minor said that the thrashing was in relation to the student turning up at school with a tilak on her forehead, put after pooja at home amid the ongoing Navratri festival.
The family has alleged that their ward was beaten mercilessly by the school teacher. It was also reported that Ahmed used derogatory language toward the pupil and objected to the practice by Hindus.
Madhya Pradesh: Nishat Begum beat up students for wearing Tilak in school
A case of religious discrimination against a Hindu student named Pawan Sen at the hands of his Muslim teacher Nishat Begum has been reported from the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh. The teacher at Government New Boys Secondary School, Garatganj allegedly used some Muslim boys from outside the school to beat up the victim, an 8th standard student. His ‘crime’ was that even after objections from the teacher, he used to go to school wearing a Tilak.
Pawan said that before going to school, he takes a bath and goes to the temple, where the pujari applies tilak on him. Begum used to forbid Pawan from applying tilak and threatened him with dire consequences if he didn’t stop the practice.
Pawan’s father has submitted complaints to both the district collector and SP demanding action against Begum.
Madhya Pradesh: Teacher chopped Kalawa from student’s hand
In a shocking incident from the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh, a government teacher removed Kalawa from the hands of Hindu students, saying they must not visit the temple and should not offer prayers. He justified this act by saying that he promotes equal education without any religious bias.
Following his act, the parents of the students complained with the authorities and demanded for his suspension.
Madhya Pradesh: Student stopped from entering missionary school upon wearing tilak
In Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur district, a minor Hindu boy was barred from entering the school as he came wearing Tilak. Following the incident, members of the ABVP gathered at the school ground and began chanting Jai Sri Ram slogans, following the intervention of the police, the ABVP members also put tilak in each Hindu student’s forehead and recited Hanuman Chalisa in the school.
Chhattisgarh: Students stopped from entering school with tilak
In Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, students from the Hindu community studying at Shiva public school were stopped from entering the school as they were wearing Tilak on their forehead.
As per the reports, the principal barred students from wearing Kalawa and Tilak after students belonging to different communities entered a dispute. After this decision, the Hindu activists protested and demanded action.
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