New Delhi, Aug 26 (Representative) Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge held the “hate-filled politics of the BJP-RSS” responsible for a private school teacher in Muzaffarnagar allegedly instructing children in her class to slap their Muslim classmate. A viral video of the incident shows children taking turns to strike the crying Muslim student as the teacher looks on. The video has sparked outrage. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Mr Kharge said, “The manner in which a teacher got a child thrashed by other children on the basis of religious discrimination at a school in UP is a disturbing result of the hate-filled politics of the BJP-RSS.” Mr Kharge also alleged such incidents were tarnishing the country’s image globally. “Such incidents tarnish our global image. This is against the constitution,” he said. “The poison of the divisive thinking of the ruling party has spread so much in society that an educator, Tripta Tyagi, is teaching religious hatred to children since childhood, while an RPF jawan, Chetan Kumar, whose work is to provide security, is killing innocent people in the name of religion,” he added. The Congress president said letting any culprit off in such crimes is a crime against the country.
“Any kind of religious fanaticism and violence is against the country and to spare the guilty is a crime against the country,” Mr Kharge said. The incident also drew criticism from Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who posted on X, “The video from Muzaffarnagar where a teacher is asking her students to slap a Muslim boy is a product of the last 9 years. The message being drilled into the minds of little children is that one can beat up & humiliate a Muslim without any repercussions.” Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh said the police are investigating the incident. “In the state, everyone has the right to the same level of education and ensuring this is the job and the priority of our government. The police are probing the incident and further action will be taken once the investigation is complete.”
The Muzaffarnagar police said they have seen the viral video where a woman teacher asked the students in a class to beat their classmate. “A video was received at Mansurpur police station today wherein a woman teacher asked the students of a class to beat their classmate for not learning multiplication tables. Some objectionable comments were also there in the video,” Superintendent of Police Satyanarayan Prajapat said in a video statement on X on Friday.“After investigating the video, it was found that the teacher was declaring that those Mohammedan students get spoiled whose mothers don’t pay attention to their studies (Jin Mohammedan baccho ki maa unke padhai par dhyan nahi deti hai, unn baccho ki padhai ka naash ho jata hai). The person recording the video also confirms this,” the superintendent of police said. “The Basic Education Officer has been informed and departmental action will be taken against the woman teacher,” a police official said.