On Saturday, Mamata Dixit, principal of Smt Joy Harris Girls Inter College, Agra revealed that several Islamist teachers at her college were donning hijab and were also influencing the Muslim girls to not comply with the college uniforms. Dixit said that the Muslim teachers were instigating around 200 Muslim girls to wear hijabs and protest against her.
This is a day after Dixit complained of being harassed and mentally tortured for being a Hindu. She stated that several Muslim teachers at the college had formed a group against her and were deliberately targeting her for being a Hindu by religion. The incident came to the fore on September 29 when a video went viral in which Dixit could be seen crying and complaining about college politics. She said that nine Muslim teachers had ganged up against her and were also influencing the Muslim girls to protest against her.
मीडिया से बात करते हुए रो पड़ीं प्रिंसिपल ममता दीक्षित…
— Shubham shukla (@ShubhamShuklaMP) October 1, 2022
प्रिंसिपल ने नहीं हटाई मां सरस्वती की फोटो, हिजाब में आने से किया मना तो मुस्लिम छात्राओं ने प्रिंसिपल के खिलाफ रची साजिश. मानसिक रूप से किया प्रताड़ित. मामला आगरा के जॉय हैरिस स्कूल का. स्कूल में 70%मुस्लिम छात्राएं हैं pic.twitter.com/b0DnMMpLcA
On October 1, Dixit happened to reveal the names of the teachers who were harassing her and forcing her to resign as the principal of the college. “The nine Islamist teachers were led by Rehana Khatun. Rehana and another Islamist teacher named Shamina Khatun influenced the girls to wear hijabs. Shamina herself wears a hijab daily to college. Two Hindu teachers, Anupama Yadav and Priyanka Singh are also supporting them”, the Principal said.
She added that the college has already asked the students to wear uniforms instead of hijabs and burqas. However, according to Dixit, the girls are being influenced by the Islamist teachers to refuse to conform to the uniform rules of the institution.
Reportedly, the Islamist teachers are also forcing the management to remove the photo frame of Goddess Saraswati from the college room to replace it with a Mecca Madina frame. “They (Islamist teachers) come to my cabin and threaten me to take down the photo of Goddess Saraswati. They have been harassing me for 2 years now”, she said in another video released on Saturday.
District Inspector of Schools Manoj Kumar took cognizance of the events and said that both sides were heard in the matter. “Initially there was the issue of high fees. Then the personal complaints escalated and a video of the principal became viral. We’ll resolve this through a meeting with the management. As far as the complaint about the burqa is concerned, we examined the footage of 2 days, and no such complaint could be established”, he noted.
Then the complaints escalated & a video of the principal became viral. We’ll resolve this through a meeting with mgmt. As far as the complaint about the burqa is concerned, we examined the footage of 2 days, and no such complaint could be established: Manoj Kumar, DIOS, Agra pic.twitter.com/NKQoJUoD1M
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) October 1, 2022
Meanwhile, the Principal reiterated that the Muslim students of the college were staging protests against her and were demanding her resignation as the Principal. Meanwhile, the Principal appealed to the students to wear college uniforms instead of burqas and hijabs. She talked about continuing her fight to ban the hijab and burqa inside the college premises. She said that the management committee had conducted two meetings, one on September 19 and another on September 28 to look into the matter. She has also asked CM Yogi Adityanath to get the matter investigated.
Reportedly, the management committee is said to have taken note of the video and issued notices to the Muslim teachers. Students have also been instructed to attend college in uniforms only. Dr. GS Dharmesh, a BJP MLA from Agra and a former UP minister, also visited the school today and discussed the problem with the principal. The principal conveyed her displeasure with the Muslim lecturers and requested that they be punished. The local MLA has spoken with district administration and education department authorities, requesting a swift resolution to the hijab disagreement while maintaining the school’s calm environment.
