Kanpur : An FIR has been filed against the managing director of a school that has been embroiled in a controversy over the recital of religious prayers. On Tuesday, a FIR was lodged against the managing director of a private school in Kanpur after some parents and right-wing members objected to the recitation of Islamic verses during the morning assembly.
A case has been registered against Sumeet Makhija, managing director of Florets International School, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Seesamau) Nishank Sharma said.
When the news went viral on social media, scores of guardians gathered outside a Kanpur school, accusing the management of teaching Islamic ‘kalma’ to their children.
According to him, the case was registered after a complaint from a parent named Ravi Rajpoot.
Surjeet Kumar Singh, Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA), also visited the school and questioned Makhija about the district magistrate’s orders. According to Singh, the authorities were also directed to submit documents pertaining to the school and its structure.
After right-wing protests over the inclusion of some Islamic verses in the school’s decade-old practise, the school stopped reciting religious prayers during the morning assembly on Monday. The Florets International School declared a holiday on Monday following a protest by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers who claimed that students were being forced to recite the ‘Kalma Tayyab.’
We declared a holiday on Monday after VHP and BJP workers staged a protest alleging that students were being forced to recite the Kalma. It has also been decided to close the school for two additional days on Tuesday and Wednesday,” Makhija stated over the phone.
The school administration also insisted on reciting the Gayatri Mantra and the Gurbani during the morning assembly as part of its ‘Sarva Dharma Samman’ (all religions are equal) philosophy.
The uproar began when a parent tweeted that students at the two-decade-old institution were forced to recite the ‘Kalima Tayyab.’