The Kerala High Court on August 13 sought the State Government’s explanation for suspending Guruprasad, a teacher from Pallathadukka in Kasaragod’s Kumbla area, who drafted the question paper for a Freedom Quiz. The teacher was suspended on August 9 after one of the questions asked students to identify the freedom fighter who underwent the lengthiest jail term under British rule in connection with the freedom struggle, with Veer Savarkar among the objective answers.
The Court asked whether a teacher could be suspended merely for drafting a question that was considered wrong and directed the government to inform it of the actual reason behind the suspension.
The Court was hearing a petition filed by Guruprasad challenging his suspension. The hearing has been posted for August 17.
The quiz competition was organised for Lower Primary School students in the Kumbla, Manjeswaram and Kasaragod sub-education districts.
The question, included in the questionnaire distributed to students, triggered protests by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPM, and the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), the student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League. Following the protests, Kerala General Education Minister N. Shamsudheen sought an explanation from the Kasaragod District Education Officer.
The minister said the ‘Freedom Quiz’, held on August 6, was not part of the official activity calendar of the Education Department or the Social Science Club and that neither had instructed anyone to conduct such a local competition using unofficial questions.
The General Education Department subsequently suspended Guruprasad, an upper primary school teacher at Pallathadukka, stating that he had led the team that prepared the question paper. Disciplinary proceedings were also ordered under the Kerala Education Rules.
It is quite strange to hear that a teacher has been suspended for giving what BJP leader K. Surendran described as a historically defensible answer. Surendran strongly condemned the suspension and called it a “witch-hunt”, saying that Veer Savarkar underwent a lengthy period of imprisonment during the British Raj and assuring the teacher of BJP’s support in his fight for justice.
The BJP has unleashed strong protests against the wrong step of the Congress-led UDF government. The party made it clear that it would stand with the teacher under any circumstance.
The controversy has also escalated into street protests. BJP leaders and workers in Kasaragod protested against the suspension and demanded justice for Guruprasad. The BJP alleged that police used force against its leaders and workers during the protest and particularly raised objections over the treatment of women protesters.
It is not a secret that the V.D. Satheeshan government is controlled by the Muslim League, the second-largest constituent of the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), and Jamaat-e-Islami and other extremist forces. Moreover, the UDF is competing with the opposition CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in its appeasement spree. Both always fight each other for securing the minority vote bank.
They consider V.D. Savarkar a fanatic Hindu leader. They are least bothered about the background of his freedom struggle and the inhuman torture he had to suffer in the Andaman Cellular Jail, also called Kala Pani.
Congress conveniently forgets that the commemorative stamp honouring Veer Savarkar was issued during the regime of Indira Gandhi. It was issued on May 28, 1970. CPM men forget that their ideologue, late E.M.S. Namboodiripad, and their agitation leader, A.K. Gopalan (AKG), had glorified V.D. Savarkar as a great patriot and freedom fighter. Because the vote bank is most important for them, V.D. Savarkar has become a persona non grata for both Fronts.
The suspension of the teacher has also brought a new allegation over the appointment of Islamic fundamentalists to the Education Department as personal staff of the minister. The appointment of K.K. Mohammed Ashraff, a state committee member of the Welfare Party of India, to the personal staff of General Education Minister N. Shamsudheen has raised questions over the influence of Jamaat-e-Islami-linked elements in the Education Department.
Ashraff is also reported to be a former Malappuram district president of the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, and a former state secretary of the Fraternity Movement. His appointment was reportedly approved by the Deputy Secretary of the department on August 6.
The timing of the appointment, amid the controversy over action against Guruprasad, has fuelled criticism from BJP and Hindu organisations, who have raised questions over the influence of Islamic religious forces in the Education Department. The linked appointment has therefore become part of the wider controversy surrounding the Savarkar quiz question.
The latest developments have also raised questions over whether the teacher was targeted merely for framing a question that included Veer Savarkar as an objective answer. The allegation that Islamic fundamentalist elements were behind the tracking of the question paper and the subsequent action against the teacher remains a matter of political suspicion and criticism, rather than an established finding.
