Bareilly (The Hawk): After right-wing organisations allegedly complained to the police about a prayer song sung by the students, the state's Education department reportedly suspended the principal of a government school in the Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh.
No arrests have been made despite the police having developed a case.
The suspension happened following a widely shared video of the kids reciting the well-known Urdu prayer "lab pe aati hai dua banke tamanna meri" at the morning assembly.
The portion of the video that is heard during the children's singing of "mere allah burai se bachaana mujhko" is shown.
The prayer, according to the police, has to do "with one faith" and is not included in the government schools' daily prayer routine.
The prayer "related to a community and was not on the approved list," according to a senior police official in the region.
According to the Education Department, the principal has been suspended based on the available facts, and an investigation will be carried out.
Mohammad Iqbal, an Urdu poet who also wrote the well-known words "Sare jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara," wrote the song in question in 1902.
2019 saw the suspension of another headteacher in the state's Pilibhit district after the children were overheard singing the song. The authorities had acted after receiving a complaint from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad chapter in the area.
The headmaster was allegedly suspended because he did not require the kids to sing the national anthem, according to the Pilibhit District Magistrate.
(Inputs from Agencies)
