On Wednesday, 14th June 2023, Special Judge Rajni Prakash Botam dismissed the bail applications of the three arrested accused in the case against Ganga Jamuna Senior Secondary School in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district. The three were arrested under the allegations of the imposition of restrictions on Hindu religious practices, compulsory Urdu subjects, and the recitation of poet Mohammad Iqbal’s ‘Lab pe aati hai dua’. Further, they had also forced Hindu girls to wear the Hijab and added their picture to a school poster. The three accused include Afsha Sheikh, the school principal Anas Atahar, and another person named Rustom Ali.
The complaint was lodged by three students after a photograph displaying non-Muslim students of the school wearing hijab caused protests from the Hindu community. The school tried to duck the issue by issuing a clarification that it was a headscarf and not a hijab. The school also claimed that it was part of the uniform. However, the issue gained significant attention, with the Home Minister calling for an investigation and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan criticizing the school.
The defence lawyer, Anunay Shrivastav, argued in court that the statements of the complainants in the police FIR “did not appear to be written by a child, but rather seemed dictated by adults with the intention of implicating the accused.”
Furthermore, the defence lawyers informed the court that although there were several hundred Hindu students attending the school, none of them or their parents had raised allegations of religious conversion until the issue became politicized.
The primary complainant in the case stated that from the sixth grade onwards, “we are given a dupatta, salwar, hijab in a class of 56 girls comprising students from Hindu, Muslim, and Jain religions.”
According to the FIR, the complainant stated, “It is compulsory to wear the hijab with our uniform. If we don’t wear it, our teachers scold us. We don’t wear the hijab and leave our home, but used to wear it when we reached the school gates.” The complainant alleged that Urdu was taught as a compulsory subject since the first grade without any alternative options.
“In the morning, we recite the Muslim prayer, Lab pe aati hai dua, along with the national anthem. It is forbidden to wear a tilak or kalava, and the teachers scold us… The school administration forces us to act against our religious beliefs by threatening us. These actions have hurt my religious sentiments, and I am mentally disturbed because of this,” the complaint further alleged.
The school administration refuted the allegations. A senior committee member stated, “Urdu is a third language subject taught in this minority school. Nobody compels students to refrain from wearing their tilak or kalava. These students have been part of our school since nursery. Why are these allegations being made just before the elections?”
On Tuesday, a bulldozer arrived near the school, which has now been derecognized, to initiate the demolition of the unauthorized first floor, as deemed by the local civic body. Following protests by school children, the municipal authorities decided not to utilize the bulldozer.
B. L. Singh, the Chief Municipal Officer said, “People gathered outside the school because of the bulldozer and this created huge law and order problems. The bulldozer could also not enter the premises properly, so we decided against it. We are manually removing the illegal encroachments. It will take several days.”
What is the controversy?
Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School in Damoh district, Madhya Pradesh, became embroiled in a significant controversy when allegations emerged that the school was compelling students to wear hijabs. The claims surfaced after an advertisement for the school, published on May 31, showcased accomplished students, including Hindu and Jain girls, wearing hijabs.
Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School is a private English-medium institution situated in ward number 4 of the Futera neighbourhood in Damoh. The posters featuring the names of exceptional students, both boys and girls, gained traction on social media. Among the eighteen students, four girls from the Jain and Hindu communities were depicted wearing hijabs.
On June 7, the police registered a case against 11 members of the school management committee, charging them under IPC sections 295 (pertaining to damaging or defiling objects considered sacred by certain groups), 506 (related to criminal intimidation), 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), as well as relevant provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021.
Earlier, the affiliation of Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School of Damoh was suspended for non-compliance with Madhya Pradesh Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools Recognition Rules 2017 and amended rules 2020.
According to a circular, there was no proper arrangement of a library in the school, old furniture and old materials were kept in the laboratories rooms and there were no proper experimental materials in the school. There were 1,208 students registered in the school and there was neither proper arrangement of separate toilets for boys and girls nor pure drinking water.
