India: A school in Haryana has been fined Rs 5 lakh by a panchayat for organising a special assembly marking Eid, which led to protests and threats. The panchayat also ordered Green Dales Public School to get rid of Muslim staff and students, make its girl students switch to salwar kameez, and banned it from hiking fees for two years.
\nResidents of Hindu-majority Tauru town in Mewat district, 39km from Gurgaon, accused the school management of \u201cpropagating Islam\u201d and forcing its students, mostly Hindus, to follow Islamic rituals during the event on July 6. A mob armed with sticks and bricks was at the school\u2019s gates the day after the assembly.
\nThe panchayat order has forced the lone Muslim teacher to quit her job and move to Delhi, said school manager Hema Sharma.
\nThe police and the local MLA, however, said the panchayat\u2019s diktat held no meaning as Tauru is governed by a municipal committee. \u201cNo panchayat is recognised by the government. The local body does not support any activity by the group,\u201d said tehsildar Poonam Babbar.
\nThe police said the area was peaceful.
\n\u201cThe school is trying to convert our children\u2026 They were made to offer namaz and recite verses from the Quran. How else can you explain their intention?\u201d said Tek Chand Saini, a member of the panchayat. \u201cThe parents came to us and we, the elders, confronted the school authorities.\u201d
\nA parent who didn\u2019t want to be named said, \u201cMy son studies there. My husband and his friends rushed to the school. We come from a small town and religion is an important aspect of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The school denied the allegations. \u201cThe children sang, performed plays and prayed. We just wanted them to know and respect each other\u2019s religions. It is absurd to give the issue a communal colour,\u201d said Sharma.
\nA student of Class 4 said \u201cwe sang a famous song from a Bollywood movie and the prayer was in Hindi\u201d, while a Class 8 student said the protesters were about to attack the school but were stopped by some parents.
\nChaudhary Zakir Hussain, the Indian National Lok Dal MLA from Nuh, said \u201cno namaz was offered and it was just a celebration to mark the day\u201d. He rejected the panchayat\u2019s demands, saying Tauru was under the municipal body.
\n\u201cAn issue over offering namaz did arise but it was sorted out. The tehsildar conducted a meeting between the two parties. We have not received any formal complaint after that,\u201d said deputy commissioner Mani Ram Sharma.
\n\u201cThere is no communal tension in the area,\u201d said station house officer Jay Prakash Yadav.
\nSeveral parents and members of right-wing groups who are backing the school said a rumour was blown out of proportion.
\n\u201cMy children studied there and now my grandchild too. We have never faced any such issue. The incident is untrue,\u201d said Pawan Bhardwaj of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
\nThe school accused an electrician of spreading lies. \u201cHe had come to fix some wiring. The guards did not allow him inside as the assembly was on. While leaving, he was heard saying, \u2018namaz padha rahe he (they are teaching them to offer namaz)\u2019,\u201d said Sharma.<\/p>\n
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Source: Hindustan times<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" India: A school in Haryana has been fined Rs 5 lakh by a panchayat for organising a special assembly marking Eid, which led to protests and threats. The panchayat also ordered Green Dales Public School to get rid of Muslim staff and students, make its girl students switch to salwar kameez, and banned it from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c102-muslim-minorities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n