Karnataka teacher asks Muslim students to ‘go to Pak’, inquiry initiated
Block Education Officer B. Nagaraj, who conducted a probe into the incident, said the other students of class corroborated with the complaint.
The education department in Shivamogga district of Karnataka, transferred a government school teacher and initiated an inquiry against her after she allegedly asked two Class 5 Muslim students to “go to Pakistan”, officials familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
In a complaint filed with the education department, A Nazrullah, the president of the district unit of the Janata Dal Secular’s minority wing, said Manjula Devi was teaching a Class 5 class on Thursday when two students began bickering among themselves. The teacher scolded the boys, both from the Muslim community, and allegedly said to them that “this is not your country”.
“We were shocked after the children told us about the incident. We filed a complaint with Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI), and the department took action against the teacher,” he added.
Block Education Officer B. Nagaraj, who conducted a probe into the incident, said the other students of class corroborated with the complaint.
“The teacher reportedly said to the students: ‘This is not your country; this is the country of Hindus. You should go to Pakistan. You are our slaves forever’,” Nagraj said.
The block education officer added that he has submitted a report into the incident and any future course of action will be taken according to orders from senior officials.
HT could not reach Devi for a response.
The incident comes a week after the Uttar Pradesh Police registered a case against a private school teacher accused of making communal comments and encouraging her students to slap their Muslim classmate for not being able to recite a multiplication table in Muzaffarnagar district.
The incident came light when on August 25, a video of the teacher had gone viral in which she asked students of Class II to slap their Muslim classmate, triggering widespread condemnation.
A case against was registered against the teacher on August 26 under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of the victim’s family.