Attack on Teachers

Incident: On October 3, members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Bajrang Dal targeted Kalorex Future High School after the video of the school programme organised on September 29 went viral on social media. The video had shown children offering namaz and sing Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua, the school had clarified that it was aimed at celebrating diversity, and similar religious celebration for Hindu and Jain festivals were also held in the past.

Incident: A Christian teacher from DY Patil High School was chased by a mob of parents and Bajrang Dal, tearing away his shirt and physically assaulting him. The mob attacked the teacher, Alexander Coates Reid, on the allegation that he forced students to recite Christian prayers and setup CCTVs in the girls’ washroom, both the claims were refuted by the police. The Pimpri-Chinchwad police clarified that CCTVs were installed only in the common areas near the wash basins, and not inside the toilets.

Incident: Mary Prabha Selvaraj, a school teacher at St Gerosa School in Mangalore, Karnataka, was sacked from her job after furore arose over the incident on February 8 in which the teacher was accused of raising remarks against Lord Ram and PM Modi. After incident, the mob had gathered in front of the school along with the MLA, Vedavyasa Kamath, to protest against the teacher, demanding her dismissal. The headmistress of the school Sister Anitha accused Kamath of forcing her to sack the teacher, as the MLA threatened to intensify the protest if the school did not accept his demand. Notably, the MLA had gathered the children around him and instigated them to shout slogans against their own school.

Incident: Three Muslims teachers were suspended from the Government Senior Secondary School in Khajuri Odpur in Kota’s Sangod block by the education department following the memorandum submitted by Sarva Hindu Samaj on 20 February to the Education Minister Madan Dilawar, as per the Indian Express report. The suspension orders were issued on February 22 and 24 against the three teachers, Firoj Khan and Mirza Mujahid, and Shabana, respectively. The right-wing groups alleged that school had been carrying out religious conversion and jihadi activities, and had asked Hindu students to offer namaz. The charges levelled against the teachers have been refused by several students as well as government officials.

Incident: On August 3, 2023, a professor of Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce was arrested on the charges of hurting religious sentiments under IPC Section 295A. The professor, Ashok Sopan Dhole, was also suspended by the varsity allegedly for making objectionable remarks about Hindu deities during a class. His arrest came on the heels of the complaint filed by Ravindra Padwal, who identified himself as a member of an organisation named Samast Hindu Bandhav, reported the Quint. After the incident, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad had protested outside the college criticising the professor and demanded that offence be registered against him, Indian Express reported. Refuting the allegations, the professor said that he was only teacher Bhakti Rasa, and did not abuse any Hindu deity.

Incident: In May 2022, a professor was suspended from Sharda University, a private university based in Greater Noida, for giving a question in exam to first year students of BA honours course in Political Science, asking them to compare similarities between Fascism and the Hindu right wing (Hindutva). The question was: “Do you find any similarities between Fascism/Nazism and Hindu right-wing (Hindutva)? Elaborate with the argument.” Following this, the university had issued an apology on May 6, noting that the University has suspended the professor until the pending inquiry by the committee.

Incident: A woman professor was sent on a compulsory leave by the college (Kolhapur Institute of Technology) on June 16, 2023 after a doctored clip of her classroom interaction was share on social media. As per the details, the woman professor on June 8 had confronted the students who made derogatory statements about the minority community. Following the event, some Hindu organizations put pressure on the college management and the professor, demanding action against the latter. The said organizations even threatened to stop the examinations if the demand was not accepted.

Incident: On August 4, 2023, during a school examination, a student wrote 'Jai Shri Ram' on the answer sheet. When the teacher told the boy not to do so, the boy became aggressive and urged other students to write 'Jai Shri Ram' on their answer sheets. When the news reached that the teacher had punished the boy, a mob of 40-50 men barged into the school and demanded that the school management apologize for punishing the student.

Incident: In the backdrop of Chandrayaan-3 launch on July 15, 2023, a discussion was held among women professors on the scientific progress of the country and theism in the college staffroom. At that time, a female professor removed the Ganesha image from the staff room, taking the stand that it is not appropriate to have images of deities of any religion in the educational institution as per the ordinance of the Rayat Sanstha. Following this, on July 17, July 25 and August 22, 2023, groups of Hindu youth and villagers came to the college and put pressure on the institution to act against the teacher. Eventually the headmaster of the institution, Mr. Mulla, was transfer out of the college.