The Kerala High Court on August 19 stayed for one month the suspension of school teacher Guruprasad Rai K., who was suspended by the Kerala Education Department after he included V.D. Savarkar as one of the objective answers to a Freedom Quiz question for Lower Primary School students in Kasaragod, asking them to identify the freedom fighter who served the longest jail term under the British Raj; Justice Viju Abraham, while granting the interim relief in the Guruprasad Rai K. vs State of Kerala case, directed that the disciplinary proceedings against the teacher would continue.
Previously, the State Education Minister N. Shamsudheen had termed the question a deliberate distortion of history. An enquiry was then ordered and subsequently the teacher was suspended on August 9.
The teacher challenged the suspension order before the High Court. He submitted that it was politically motivated and violated relevant rules.
He argued that the suspension order was based on the Education Minister’s oral instruction alone and that this was not permitted under the rules. He further contended that there was no factual error in the question and answer. He said that his suspension was only because the answer was not liked by a section of society.
He also argued that he had conveyed the questions and answers to the Assistant Education Officers (AEOs) in advance, on August 1 by email. He then sent them to schools on August 6. School-level quiz competitions were held. The schools were subsequently closed due to heavy rains.
Earlier, the Court had sought the State’s response by asking whether suspension was necessary in this case.
As soon as the suspension order was issued, it was suspected that the team behind the Education Minister was filled with radical Islamic activists from the Jamaat-e-Islami Keralam unit. They know that the CM VD Satheeshan government is controlled by the Indian Union Muslim League and other Islamic outfits.
Kerala Education Minister N. Shamsudheen belongs to the Muslim League. The Muslim League is the second-largest constituent in the Congress-led ruling United Democratic Front (UDF). And, the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Priyanka Gandhi, is dominated by the Muslim League.
The controversy began following the protests by the CPM youth wing DYFI and the Indian Union Muslim League’s student wing MSF, Kerala General Education Minister N. Shamsudheen sought an explanation from the Kasaragod District Education Officer.
On August 13, the Court sought the State Government’s explanation on whether suspension was warranted merely for framing a question that was considered wrong and asked the government to explain the actual reason for the action.
The issue had also acquired a political dimension, with BJP leaders condemning the suspension and supporting the teacher. BJP Keralam leader K. Surendran described it as a “witch-hunt”, while BJP workers protested in Kasaragod demanding justice for Guruprasad.
