Maharashtra school education department has instructed all schools not to use their premises for political purposes after a visit by a few BJP leaders to a school in Mumbai last week to canvas support for the Citizenship Amendment Act raised a storm.
The visit of the BJP leaders prompted the government to send a show cause notice to the school for allowing a campaign in their premises supporting CAA, state school education minister Varsha Gaikwad said on Monday.
“We have sent a show cause notice to the school where campaign supporting CAA was organised,” Gaikwad said.
“The government has also asked all the schools across the state not to organise any such political events. We want schools to talk about education and health related issues. Schools need to discuss the subject in which students are facing difficulties. For politics, there are many platforms available. Do not play with the delicate minds of the students,” she said.
On Friday, the BJP had organised a talk on CAA at Dayanand Balak Vidyalaya in Matunga area. “Students were given information about CAA,” said an organiser of the programme from BJP.
Sumita Singh, a leader of the Uttar Bharatiya Morcha and a trustee of the school, who had organised the programme, said, “Students were given postcards addressed to the PM and were encouraged to post them, after writing what they feel about CAA.”
{{/usCountry}}Sumita Singh, a leader of the Uttar Bharatiya Morcha and a trustee of the school, who had organised the programme, said, “Students were given postcards addressed to the PM and were encouraged to post them, after writing what they feel about CAA.”
{{/usCountry}}The initiative received a lot of flak from the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies in the state.
On Saturday, Maharashtra tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray criticized the BJP’s initiative as “ridiculous” and that “politicisation of schools mustn’t be tolerated”.
The BJP has launched a mass outreach programme following protests at various places in the country against the law.
The CAA fast tracks citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. The Opposition says the amended law is divisive and discriminatory because it makes religion a test of citizenship.