Representative image of classroom.
Credit: iStock Photo
A teacher at a government school in Shivamogga, Karnataka has been transferred and is under investigation by the Karnataka Department of School Education and Literacy for reportedly telling two Muslim students to "go to Pakistan". The teacher in question has denied the accusation as reported by The Indian Express.
This incident comes a week after a video of a teacher in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district went viral where she asked the students to slap a Muslim classmate for not reciting the multiplication tables.
Manjula Devi, who works as a teacher at a school in Tipu Nagar, has been accused of making communal remarks on two students in Class 5. The department has taken action against her after a complaint was filed by A Nazrullah, a JD(S) leader from Shivamogga.
Parameshwarappa C R, Deputy Director of Public Instruction (Shivamogga), told The Indian Express that the teacher was transferred pending departmental inquiry. “We received the complaint on Thursday. Action was initiated against the teacher based on a preliminary inquiry by the block education officer,” he said.
According to Parameshwarappa, the teacher claimed that she was trying to discipline the students in Class 5 as they were being unruly and not showing her the due respect.
Nazrullah claimed in his complaint that Manjula scolded the two students by saying that "India is not your country. This a country of Hindus. You should go to Pakistan".
After school, the two students told their parents about the incident, post which the parents contacted local leaders to report the incident. A complaint was filed, and the block education officer looked into the matter and submitted a report.