Teacher assaulted by ABVP, Bajrang Dal goons after students recited Iqbal’s famous poem, ‘lab pe aati hai dua banke tamanna meri’ during an event at Ahmedabad school. Instead of taking action against the assailants, the government ordered a probe against the awareness event
Team Clarion
AHMEDABAD – Hindutva extremists created bedlam at an Ahmedabad school after some students recited “Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua Ban Ke” – a poem written by Mohammed Iqbal – leading to the assault of a music teacher.
The video of the assault, which is viral on the social media platform, depicts the saffron goons assaulting the music teacher, identified as Maulik Pathak, in the presence of the police. Pathak, who teaches at Kalorex Future School in Ahmedabad, was allegedly assaulted by a group of 5-7 people reportedly from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Bajrang Dal. The viral video purportedly shows the teacher, along with scores of students reciting the Iqbal’s famous lines
Talking about the incident, school principal Niraliben Dagli said one Muslim student performed namaz and was joined by four other students “and together they wish everyone a happy Eid”, on the occasion of Eid Milad Un Nabi, birth anniversary of the last prophet of Islam.
“The other four students are Hindus and we have taken the consent of the parents of all the participating students for the event. Nobody had an issue,” principal Dagli said.
In view of the occasion, the school organised this activity for the students of standard II to give them information about the festival on 29 September. The school claims that it has been carrying out such activities ahead of festivals of all religions, including Samvatsari (Jain festival) and Ganesh Chaturthi. No student was forced to perform namaz. It was just a two-minute activity, and the students who participated had taken consent from their parents, said the principal.
“At Kalorex Future School, we celebrate a wide array of Indian festivals, ranging from Ganeshotsav to Eid to Christmas. We aim to educate our students about India’s rich and diverse traditions. The recent assembly was a testament to that effort, not an attempt to offend anyone’s religious sensibilities,” she said.
Meanwhile, the District Education Officer (DEO), Rohit Chaudhari, issued a show-cause notice to the school, seeking an explanation. Chaudhari said the school’s management had been in touch. “They clarified that the initiative wasn’t premeditated and promised caution in the future,” he stated.
Minister of State for Primary, Secondary and Education Praful Pansheriya also criticized the school and blamed it for disturbing the atmosphere. “It seems that some people want to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the state by organising such programmes in schools. Students who took part in that programme may not be even aware of what exactly they were doing. This is not at all acceptable,” said the minister.
Leading fact-checker Mohammed Zubair criticized the state government for not taking action against those who assaulted the teacher. Instead, they ordered an investigation into the school’s awareness programme.
“Gujarat Model! The BJP govt in Gujarat instead of taking action against the ABVP and Bajrang Dal members, who thrashed the teacher and took the law into their own hands, blamed the school and ordered a probe into the awareness programme,” tweeted Zubair.
