NCP questions Smriti Irani's silence on UP school viral video case

Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Saturday questioned Smriti Irani on her silence over the video of a private school in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar where a teacher was heard asking students slap a Muslim kid in the classroom.

The NCP had earlier pointed fingers at Irani for staying mum on critical issues like the wrestlers’ protest in Delhi and Manipur violence against women.

Smriti Irani is the Union Minister of Women and Child Development as well as the Union Minority Affairs Minister.

“Why is Smriti Irani silent on the bigoted act by a teacher on a child in Muzaffarnagar ?,” asked NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto.

"A bigoted teacher's act towards her student from a particular religion in Muzaffarnagar is disgusting. Treating a child like this is a crime that must be punished severely. This act by her will scar that child's life and corrupt the minds of the kids who were forced to hit,” he wrote on platform X formerly known as Twitter.

“What is sad to know is that, our Women and Child Development minister, who is also the Minister of the Minority Affairs, has not spoken on this issue yet, despite the fact that this issue is directly related to both her ministries Child and Minority. Irani, who always reacts on issues of a particular section of our society and on a particular Member of Parliament, chooses to remain silent when it comes to her duty concerning her ministries, be it the problems faced by our women wrestlers or girl students in Karnataka," he added.

“Acts like the one by this teacher in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh must be taken seriously by the central and state governments and an example of severe action and punishment must be set to make sure that people like these do not commit crimes against children,” Crasto wrote.

The video purportedly showing a school teacher asking her students to slap a boy from what she is heard referring to as 'Mohammaden' community and also passing objectionable remarks against the community has gone viral on social media, with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra condemning the incident.