An issue involving the felicitation of a class 10 girl from a government school in Kheralu village of Gujarat’s Mehsana district has been going viral over social media platforms. The girl and her family members have claimed that she was not awarded by the school for belonging to the Muslim community.
The girl and her parents, while talking to several media houses, claimed that the girl had secured first rank in the school but she was not felicitated by the school on purpose. The parents believe the girl was not awarded for belonging to the Muslim community. They also alleged that the girl who stood second in the school was felicitated and honoured but the achievement of their daughter was deliberately ignored on religious grounds.
The issue went viral over social media after several left-liberal Islamists escalated the matter and blamed the school for religious bias. Further, several media channels like The Wire, The Quint, Maktoob Media, Millat Times, etc picked up the story and questioned the school management and the state government.
Zee News published a report in Gujarati with a suggestive title that roughly read, “Hate spread in school: Second ranker felicitated, topper ignored’. The report said that the Muslim topper girl identified as Arnaz Banu was to be felicitated on August 15 this year but instead, the girl who ranked second was honoured. The topper girl felt ignored by the incident and began crying out of shame. She then narrated the incident to her family members who later alleged that she was not felicitated because of her religion.
The girl’s father, while talking to the media, claimed, “My daughter was not honoured because she belongs to the Muslim community. Instead, the girl who ranked second was felicitated on stage. This is injustice happening to us just because we belong to the minority community.”
Further, many YouTube channels helped spread the ‘news’ and made similar claims. One journalist, Devanshi Joshi of the JAMAVAT channel, alleged that the government school in Khelaru village of Gujarat’s Mehsana district was engaging in religious bias. “The state, the country is creating an atmosphere of hatred and discrimination against a girl child because she is a Muslim,” Joshi said further blaming the society.
Islamists also raised their voices on social media against the school and the government and furthered the claims made by the Muslim girl and her parents. They also blatantly slammed PM Modi and ridiculed his idea of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Vikas’.
गुजरात के मेहसाणा के खेरालु गाँव में स्वतंत्रता दिवस के अवसर पर कक्षा 10 के टॉपर्स बच्चों को सम्मानित किया जाना था। जिसमें पहले नम्बर के छात्र की जगह पर सीधा दूसरे नम्बर के छात्र को बुला कर सम्मानित किया गया। पहले नम्बर वाले को बुलाया ही नहीं गया। जानते हैं क्यूँ ?
— Khalid Hussain (@khalidmfp) August 18, 2023
वजह सिर्फ इतनी… pic.twitter.com/3GWCQDnHCs
#Gujarat
— RAHUL (@RahulSeeker) August 19, 2023
Arnazbanu is a class 10 Topper in 'Shri K. T. Patel Smriti Vidyalaya' in Mehsana Dist. went to the school function organized to felicitate the Class 10 & 12 toppers on 15th August.
Surprisingly the school denied the award to her & gave it to the 2nd ranked student.… pic.twitter.com/iHIoczcyXv
OpIndia dug out the truth- Arnaz Banu is no longer part of the school
Team OpIndia talked to the school management about the issue. The school management refuted the allegations of any religious bias and said that the matter has been given a religious angle deliberately. “There is no religious angle to the issue. The program which is being talked about was a small, unofficial one. The teachers contributed and organised the program to motivate the students for further studies. The girl in question, Arnaz Banu, ranked first in the term 2022-2023. She has now passed out and is no longer enrolled in the school. The program was organised only for students who are currently part of the school. The other students were felicitated to motivate them for upcoming examinations,” the Principal of K T Patel School said.
He further added, “Arnaz Banu went to a different school after passing out her 10th class whereas the second ranker girl who was felicitated in the unofficial program continues to study in our school. She is currently in 11th standard. The teachers had organised the program only for the students who are currently part of the school to motivate them for further exams and studies.”
The Principal also said that the official felicitation program in the school is organised every year on January 26 and that Arnaz Banu will be felicitated by the school next year on January 26.
The girl will officially be felicitated on January 26
Sources associated with the school also informed that the majority of the population of the said village is Muslim and some local Muslims of the village also believe that there is no religious angle in the incident. Why such claims are being made on behalf of the girl student and her guardian is still beyond people’s understanding. It is also learned that a delegation of prominent people from the village will soon visit the school to bring out the facts regarding the incident.
The principal of the school, meanwhile, reiterated that the program was organised on a very small scale and that it was unofficial. “The teachers organised the program to motivate the students who are currently part of the school. Arnaz Banu after passing her 10th standard has secured admission in another school. However, she will be felicitated officially next year on January 26,” he affirmed.
This original story has been written by Krunalsinh Rajput of OpIndia Gujarati. Click here to read the original story.
