Hooghly government school in Polba region, West Bengal of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has found itself in the middle of a controversy after it asked its students to write a report on ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and its ‘negative impact on the society’ during a class exam.
The question paper also had a question on how the campaign for refunding “cut money” can stop corruption.
Since the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ topic is currently one of the most politically sensitive topics in the state the children were left confused as to how to deal with the question. Whether they should reply to the question honestly or diplomatically keeping Mamata’ perception in view had left the students flummoxed. Since the question was only for five marks most of the students thought it to be safe to skip the question.
However, those who answered the question brought it to the notice of the principal as the examination was about to get over. The principal, in turn, assured that every student, irrespective of whether they attempted or not, would get full marks for that particular question.
This incident drew a lot of criticism from BJP’s district organisation president Subir Nag, who dubbed it as the West Bengal government’s deliberate move to confuse the young minds. BJP, which won the Hoogly seat in the recent Lok Sabha election has also planned to submit a memorandum seeking an explanation as to how the school authorities could allow such a question paper to be printed without basic inspection.
Though Trinamool Congress panchayat leader, Nirmal Ghosh, who is associated with the school apologised and said that he would inquire into the matter, the ruling Trinamool Congress Party has distanced itself from this controversy dubbing it a stray incident and blaming the principal and the subject teacher in this regard.
The three words that have been triggering Mamata and her goons for the longest time now are ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Mamata has several times in the past exhibited her malevolence against the chant.
She has not only called the slogan a deliberate attempt ‘to sell hatred ideology’ but has also many a time threatened to take action against people chanting Jai Shri Ram.
The chant of Jai Shri Ram has become one of political upheaval in West Bengal with TMC goons lashing out at those chanting it. In fact, many people in West Bengal have faced Mamata’ wrath for using the slogan.
In the month of June, 3 BJP workers along with a 14-year-old boy were shot for chanting Jai Shri Ram. Last month, a BJP worker named Krishna Debnath succumbed to his injuries after he was brutally beaten up by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers for chanting the slogan. Mamata Banerjee had also got 10 people arrested for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ at her. She had claimed that she was being abused.
In fact, the reluctance and the intolerance against the slogan have become so deep-rooted in Mamata’s realm that a class-I student was allegedly brutally thrashed by his school teacher for chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’.
