Officials conducted a probe following reports that a private school in Rajasthan’s Barmer district called the national anthem anti-Islam and banned its recital by students. Media reports also alleged that the school, Maulana Vali Mohammad Registan, in Pandi Ki Paar village also forced Hindu students to read the Quran.
On the orders of district collector Sudhir Kumar Sharma, a team of officials reached the school and spoke to students preparing for Independence Day events. The team later submitted its report to the collector. The school administration denied the allegations.
“I have submitted pictures of our previous Independence Day celebrations to the probe team,” said headmaster Mohammad Siraj.
The school has 250 students, including 30 from Hindu families.
“We run special Quran classes for Muslim students after school hours,” said Jeewa Ram, a teacher and coordinator of the Independence Day celebration committee.
This comes after officials in UP’s Allahabad, on Tuesday, sealed a school whose manager-cum-owner had refused to allow the recital of the national anthem by students and staff members for coming Independence Day. Zia-ul-Haqhad had claimed that the phrase ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’ in the national anthem violated the basic tenets of Islam.
