According to a report by The Observer Post, the young child named Faizaan Mohammad was threatened, abused and even hit with a bottle by his fellow classmates and students due to his Muslim identity on February 17.
The episode began when Faizaan found that he did not have a pencil during class. Following this, he asked his classmates if he could borrow one thinking that he had left it at home. However, as no one offered assistance, Faizaan went back to searching through his school bag and finally found a pencil.
However, to his dismay, his peers who witnessed the incident began saying derogatory and biased comments about Muslims. As per the report, the classmates even stated, “Musalman sab aise hi hote hai” (All Muslims are like this). Faizaan heard this and urged his classmates to not make such remarks and to let this be behind them, however the students did not listen and continued. Some of them even said, “Humne tumhe is desh me rehne diya hai nahi to tum katora le kar kahi bheek maang rahe hote” (We allowed you to live in this country otherwise you would be begging somewhere else with a bowl). This made Faizaan leave the classroom, being distraught and feeling helpless. He also reported the incident to the school coordinator. However, the incident was not addressed immediately. According to the report, the school coordinator was involved with another issue.
Struggling with the distressing encounter, Faizan told his parents about the incident and even asked them whether they would cut his throat. According to his paternal uncle, Sagir Ahmed Ansari, the episode has left Faizan traumatised, and his family is now seeking professional assistance from a doctor who has at this point advised Faizan to stay at home.
The students who abused Faizaan have reportedly confessed, and the school has promised to give them counselling. However, the report stated that even though the school had reassured the parents of Faizaan’s safety, he was also reportedly hit on his head during recess by a bottle. The report also says that the school has reportedly seen similar such discriminatory incidents in the past.
Similarly, an incident of disturbing discrimination had taken place in August in 2023 in Gujarat. A school was under media scrutiny after it did not give the first prize to the higher ranking student, but awarded the one who came second on its Independence Day celebrations. . Reports revealed that Arnazbanu, A Muslim girl student who secured the top position in her class 10 examination, was left in tears during the prize distribution event when the award was instead conferred upon the second-ranking student.
Arnaz’s father Sanwar Khan also expressed his disappointment and even claimed that his daughter was overlooked for the award due to their religious identity, stating, “We have to face discrimination because we follow Islam.”
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