An assistant teacher at a government school in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh has been booked and suspended after he allegedly refused to sing Vande Mataram and entered into a scuffle with other teachers over the singing of the national song, said police.
State Education Department officials said the suspension of Shamshul Hasan, a teacher at the Shahpur Qutub Primary School, and the inquiry have been initiated based on the testimony of five teachers at the school. They have recorded his statement, in which he has admitted to opposing the singing of the national song.
An FIR has also been registered against Hasan on a complaint lodged by colleague Chandrapal Singh, under BNS sections 351 (2) (criminal intimidation with imprisonment of up to two years), 352 (intentional insult aimed at provoking a breach of peace), and (public nuisance), SHO (Roravar) Shiv Shankar Gupta said.
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Earlier this week, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that singing the national song “Vande Mataram” would be made compulsory in schools to mark the 150th anniversary of the song. He had called the opposition to the national song “unjustified”.
“There are directions by the government to ensure singing of Vande Mataram after morning assembly in every school to mark its 150th year. We have passed on the instructions to every school, which are following them. However, none is compelled to sing it,” Rakesh Kumar Singh, District Basic Education Officer, Aligarh, who suspended Hassan, said.
“In this case, this particular teacher did not sing the national song, and also objected to others singing it. He entered into a fight with other teachers, maintaining that he would not allow them to sing the song as it is against his religion,” Singh said.
Officials conducting an inquiry into the incident on Wednesday recorded the statements of Sushma Rani and five other assistant teachers, who have alleged that Hasan objected to the chanting of “Vande Mataram” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai” after morning prayers at the school.
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Sources said Rani and the other assistant teachers informed officials during an inquiry that Hasan also “threatened them to call his community members if it was not stopped”.
They said that when one of the teachers at the school asked the students to shout “Vande Mataram” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, a heated conversation broke out between that teacher and Hasan. Hasan reportedly told the teacher that Muslim students study in the school, and thus, such chants should not take place.
Meanwhile, Hasan told officials that he had politely objected when the slogan “Vande Mataram” was raised as it conflicted with their religious beliefs. He told the officers that a heated argument broke out only after one of the teachers started using abusive words against him.
