New Delhi: Days after a video showing an Uttar Pradesh school principal forcing students to hit their Muslim classmate went viral, four Muslim students in Delhi have said their teacher targeted them with communal remarks against them.
The teacher allegedly insulted Muslim religious symbols and asked the students why their families did not go to Pakistan during Partition.
NDTV has reported that the Delhi Police has registered a case against Hema Gulati, a teacher at Government Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Gandhi Nagar.
Shahdara DCP Rohit Meena clarified to news agency ANI that this is indeed a government school and that a Juvenile Welfare Officer, along with counsellors, is counselling the students.
The families of students enrolled in Class 9 of the school had said that Gulati made the comments last Wednesday, August 23. The families filed the police complaint on the evening of Friday, August 25.
The teacher, said the complaint, made derogatory remarks on the Kaaba at Mecca, and the Quran. “During Partition, you did not go to Pakistan. You stayed in India. You have no contribution in India’s freedom,” the teacher said.
Indian Express has reported that the teacher has been booked under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 298 (uttering words, etc, with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code.
The paper also additionally reported that Gulati targeted the students while they were celebrating the Chandrayaan 3 success.