Pilibhit; 19 Oct 2019; (UMM): Around 30 students, none in uniform, walked out of the school premises protesting their Head Master’s suspension, raising slogans, “Desh ki Raksha kaun karega? Hum karenge (Who will protect the country? We will)”, and “Kaise karenge? Tann se karenge, mann se karenge, dhan se karenge (We will do it with our mind, our and body and our wealth).”
When asked how long their walk out is going to be, a Class 5 student, said, “We will come back the day our headmaster is allowed to return and teach us. No teacher can replace him and what is happening to him is wrong and unfair.”
Head Master of the government primary school in Pilibhit district’s Ghayaspur area, Furqan Ali (45), was suspended on October 14 by Pilibhit district administration, in the wake of a complaint by local VHP members that he made students recite a religious prayer at the morning assembly.
VHP district chief Ambarish Mishra said he would not like to comment on the matter.
But according to The Indian Express, earlier this week, an inquiry by Bisalpur’s Block Education Officer (BEO), Upendra Kumar, found that Ali had made students recite the poem ‘lab pe aati hai dua’, written in 1902 by the poet Muhammad Iqbal, who also wrote ‘Sare Jahan se Accha’.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Basic Education Minister Satish Chandra Dwivedi said he has sought a report from the Education Directorate and Ali’s suspension will be revoked soon.
“…it was found that he was getting a poem by Iqbal recited which is about patriotism. The BSA and DM acted hastily. The suspension should not have been done without collecting all the facts,” said Dwivedi.
“The students are not happy about the suspension and attendance since they got to know has dipped. On Thursday, only five students showed up,” said Rehan Hussain Chisti, who replaced Ali after his suspension.
Krishna Devi (45), whose 13-year-old son is a Class 4 student said, “They did not tell students why he was suspended. My son really likes the headmaster and has almost stopped eating since he was removed,” she said.
Rajesh Kumar (38), a carpenter, whose sons are in Class 2 and Class 5 said: “All three children praise the headmaster all the time. They say he spends money from his own pocket for the school.”, reported The Indian Express.
