By Maktoob
A Muslim school principal was allegedly slapped by a BJP leader at a private school in Telangana’s Nizamabad district over the teaching of Urdu, despite the language being officially recognised as the state’s second language.
The incident, which was captured on video, has sparked controversy after police registered cases against both the accused and the principal.
The incident occurred on June 27 at Bharat Chandra High School in Armoor, where a group of around 10 to 15 men allegedly entered the campus and manhandled principal Aamir Khan over complaints that Urdu was being taught to a class of about 25 students.
Khan told The Indian Express that he is an English teacher and that Urdu classes were conducted briefly by another teacher at the direction of the school’s management committee.
According to him, the school management, headed by Hindu members, decided to introduce Urdu as a second language after requests from Muslim parents, as around 25% of the students are Muslim.
However, after some Hindu parents objected to the classes, the school discontinued them after two days.
The school management also denied allegations that religious instruction was taking place, stating that students were only being taught the Urdu alphabet and that no Namaz, Kalima or other religious texts were taught.
Based on the complaint, police registered an FIR against BJP Armoor town president M. Balu on charges including trespassing and voluntarily causing hurt.
However, a counter-complaint was also filed by the local Tahsildar against Khan and the school correspondent under provisions related to promoting enmity between groups.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
