Muslim students naked, forced to Chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ by teachers in Delhi
New Delhi : Several Muslim students were beaten up, abused, forced to go naked waist down, thrashed mercilessly and humiliated by the Hindutva BJP/RSS ideological teachers in a government school in the Indian capital city New Delhi.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the teachers were also accused of regularly throwing religious slurs at the Muslim students and ill-treating them because of the Muslim identity of the students in a government school in the capital city.
The abhorrent incidents occurred in Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Nand Nagri area of northeast Delhi and were brought to light in a letter from the victim students to Supreme Court lawyer Ashok Agarwal, who visited their institutions recently.
The students did not reveal their identities out of fear of retribution.
In the letter, the students said they are beaten up regularly; forced to go naked waist down and thrashed mercilessly behind the closed doors of a bathroom. The students are also threatened that their nude video will be made viral.
The teachers also threatened to remove their name from the school if they dare complain to anyone. Students feel that if they approach the principal, they will be subjected to more thrashing. Students also alleged that teachers continuously threaten them to deduct their marks in the examination and failing them.
Further, the students said that the Muslim and Dalit students are targeted and made to sit on back benches and upper caste students are allotted seats on the front benches.
The helpless and hapless Muslim students also addressed their letter to the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) and Delhi chief minister, detailing their harrowing experience of constantly being teased with epithets like ‘katwa’ and mulla’ and the forced chanting of ‘Jai Shri Ram.’
Earlier, during Agarwal’s visit to the school on August 7, students told him about their ordeal and then wrote the letter to him. Besides the L-G and the chief minister, the letter has also been marked to the director of the Education Department, the Chairman of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights and other officials.
The students named Adarsh Sharma and Vikas Kumar and one of their colleagues, identified only as Hindi Teacher, as their tormentors.
Agarwal was made aware of the misbehaviour and torture by the teachers and the lawyer raised the issue with the principal of the school. Instead of reprimanding the erring teachers, the principal let them know about the complaint and since then, Muslims students faced intimidation more frequently.
Agarwal said he was orally informed by a Class XI student that a teacher was discriminating against students on the basis of religion and forcing them to chant “Jai Shree Ram.” The issue was brought to the notice of the previous Director of Education, Mr RN Sharma, but nothing was done and the situation seems to continue, he said.
Speaking to media men, Agarwal said such incidents are occurring because of the mindset of emerging Hindutva ideology among teachers. “Teachers should not behave like this. They should be secular,” he said.
“Some teachers are running the agenda of a particular political party, mostly BJP/RSS. This is a very dangerous and poisonous trend,” he said.
Agarwal said he was awaiting the government’s response. But, he said, the ruling party is not showing enough courage to take action as it feels that supporting Muslims will be harmful in politics.
“This is not a good sign. Someone is spoiling the atmosphere of school and you are claiming to build a world class school,” he said.
