Headmaster closes school over Vajpayee’s ‘death’, suspended

A school headmaster in Odisha was suspended on Monday for closing the institute for a day to mourn the “death” of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is ill but very much alive in his Delhi home.

A headmaster in Odisha was suspended on Monday for closing his school for a day following rumours about the death of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is unwell but very much alive in his Delhi home.

Atal-Bihari-Vajpayee

Kamalakanta Das, the headmaster of a primary school in Balasore district, rang up a teacher on Friday and asked him to hold a condolence meeting and close the school for the day after he heard at a training workshop that 90-year-old Vajpayee was no more.

Accordingly, the junior teachers and students assembled for a meeting and floral tributes were paid to the former Prime Minister.

Das later regretted his faux pas and said he got the “news” about Vajpayee’s death from a fellow teacher at a training programme in another school.

Balasore district collector Sanatan Mallick ordered an inquiry after the incident came to his notice a day later. “This is very unfortunate that a headmaster has acted in such an irresponsible manner without crosschecking facts. He has been suspended,” he said.

Three-time Prime Minister Vajpayee, who was recently conferred with the Bharat Ratna, has not been in the public eye for the past several years because of failing health.