In a shocking incident, an Uttar Pradesh teacher in the state's communally sensitive Muzaffarnagar district, was caught on camera asking the students to slap their Muslim classmate, triggering a massive nationwide outrage with the opposition leaders targeting the BJP government over the incident even as an FIR was lodged against the lady teacher.
The video, which had gone viral on the social media platforms, purportedly showed the teacher, identified as Tripta Tyagi, asking the students to slap an eight year old Muslim student. The students are seen taking turns to slap him as the teacher watched.
The teacher is also heard making communal remarks and egged on the students to hit the Muslim student harder. The incident happened at a private school in Khubbapur village in the district on Friday but came to light on Saturday.
The teacher later claimed that the parents of the Muslim student had asked her to be strict with their ward if he did not do his homework on time and focus on his studies.
''The boy had not learnt the tables. As I am handicapped, I got other students to slap him,'' she clarified.
A senior police official said in Muzaffarnagar that a case was lodged against the teacher in this connection and the matter was being investigated.
Sources said that the parents of the Muslim child, who was slapped by his classmates, were persuaded not to file a police complaint and withdraw their child from the school. They, however, lodged a complaint after the video of the incident went viral on social media.
The incident triggered a massive outrage with the opposition leaders, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav sharply condemning the incident and attributed the same to attempts to create a poisonous environment in the country, apparently referring to the BJP.
''A teacher can not do anything worse than this. This fire across the country is the result of BJP's kerosene oil,'' Rahul said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
मासूम बच्चों के मन में भेदभाव का ज़हर घोलना, स्कूल जैसे पवित्र स्थान को नफ़रत का बाज़ार बनाना - एक शिक्षक देश के लिए इससे बुरा कुछ नहीं कर सकता।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 25, 2023
ये भाजपा का फैलाया वही केरोसिन है जिसने भारत के कोने-कोने में आग लगा रखी है।
बच्चे भारत का भविष्य हैं - उनको नफ़रत नहीं, हम सबको मिल…
Akhilesh Yadav demanded immediate sacking of the teacher. BJP MP Varun Gandhi also decried the incident and said that it had made us hang our heads in shame.
UP Minister of State Jaiveer Singh also condemned the incident and said that the opposition parties were trying to politicise it.