UP school principal, teacher booked for ‘forcing’ Hindu children to wear ‘hijab, skull cap’

A case of attempt to incite hatred in the name of religion and criminal conspiracy was registered against accused Anzar Ahmed and Gul Aizaz, police said.

Lucknow: A principal of a government school in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district and a teacher were suspended and a case was registered against them for allegedly ‘forcing’ the Hindu girls to wear ‘hijab’ and boys to wear ‘skull cap’ and reciting Allama Iqbal’s famous ‘nazm’ (poem) ‘lab pe aati hai dua’ before the morning prayer.

According to the reports, the principal Mohammed Anzar Ahmed and assistant teacher Mohammed Gul Aizaz, were suspended after a preliminary inquiry found the allegations to be true.

Another teacher, identified as Walesh Kumar was also suspended for failing to bring this to the attention of the senior officials.

The matter came to light after a video, purportedly showing the girls, who also included those from the Hindu community, wearing ‘hijab’ and the Hindu boys sporting skull caps, went viral on social media platforms catching the attention of the district officials.

Reports quoting the local villagers said that these activities had been going on at the school, situated at Jalab Sarai village in the district, for a long time but action was taken only after the video reached senior officials.

Reports said that a Block Education Officer (BEO) was entrusted with the task of conducting a probe after the video surfaced a few days back. The BEO, in his report, found the allegations to be true after which action was taken against the duo.

Police sources said that a case of attempt to incite hatred in the name of religion and criminal conspiracy was registered against Anzar Ahmed and Gul Aizaz.

A three-member team had been formed to conduct a detailed investigation into the matter. The chief development officer (CDO) of the district would head the team.