In a shocking incident, a School Principal, Father Edmund Mascarenhas assaulted some students for raising ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Hind’ slogans at an English school in the Union Territory of Diu. Hindu organisations have raised the matter and a complaint has been filed against the accused school principal.
School principal thrashed students on Teachers’ Day for saying Bharat Mata ki Jai and Jai Hind
The incident took place on the 5th of September when the school in question celebrated Teachers’ Day. After the national anthem was performed during the prayer, some students raised patriotic slogans like “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. However, principal Edmund Mascarenhas became enraged upon hearing these slogans. He forced the three children to stand in a queue before viciously thrashing them. While beating up students for raising slogans in the glory of their nation is in itself outrageous, the accused principal did not even know who raised the Bharat Mata ki Jai slogan and randomly grabbed the three victims and assaulted them.
While the fellow students present there remained silent out of fear of being hit by Mascarenhas as he was beating up the three victims, the parents present at the scene refrained from stopping the accused principal fearing that it would adversely impact their children in future.
VHP and Bajrang Dal took cognisance of the incident
Several Hindu rights organisations including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal learnt about the incident through social media. The Hindu activists took the matter seriously and submitted a complaint against the accused school principal to the District Collector. OpIndia has a copy of the complaint.
Speaking to OpIndia, Bharatbhai Solanki, the district coordinator of Vishwa Hindu Parishad said that the incident transpired at Mata Nirmala School in Diu and that according to the rules, the national anthem is played in the school, but after that, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ or any other slogan are not raised. On the 5th of September when Teachers’ Day was being celebrated in the school, some school children raised Bharat Mata ki Jai slogans.
“As soon as the national anthem ended, a child shouted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, then the principal took three children to the shed and beat them brutally. The children kept saying that they did not do anything, but they were still beaten. After the incident, two other children were also beaten,” Solanki said.
Hindu organisations demand action against Mascarenhas after submitting complaint to DM
Solanki told OpIndia that the Hindu rights groups learnt about the matter through social media and upon inquiry it was found that the local people are scared of Edmund Mascarenhas. He added the locals are mostly poor and uneducated people who fear that if they raised their voices against Mascarenhas, their children would be expelled from the school. Solanki stated that even the school staff is scared of speaking against the misconduct of Mascarenhas.
As the Hindu organisations swung into action, the Diu police registered a case against the accused principal Edmund Mascarenhas. An NC (non-cognizable offence) complaint has been filed against him under section 115(2) of the BNS and section 82(1) of the Juvenile Justice Act. OpIndia tried to contact the Diu police for more information on the matter but could not do so. This report will be updated when more information is received.
