On the 3rd of May, Indian Express published an editorial in defence of Somaiya School principal Parveen Shaikh who has come under the fire after OpIndia exposed her terror sympathising social media activities.
The IE article titled: “Why a Mumbai school principal should not be sacked over her social media posts” calls terrorists of Palestinian terror group Hamas ‘fighters’. The news outlet in the very first sentence of its editorial made it clear that for them, the killers and rapists of Israeli civilians are ‘fighters’ not terrorists. It tells a lot about why Parveen Shaikh’s support of Hamas is not outrageous enough for Indian Express.
The article says that a school principal having a ‘stellar record’ in leading an institution is not expected to like social media posts valorising “Hamas fighters” especially after what happened on the 7th of October last year. However, the management of Somaiya School in Mumbai pressing Parveen Shaikh to resign is more disturbing than Shaikh’s support for a terrorist group that slaughtered over a 1000 civilians and is using their own people as human shield, as per the Indian Express article.
The IE editorial suggests that Shaikh being supportive of Hamas will not hurt the school, but the management asking her to resign for sympathising with terrorists will. In a similar vein as Scroll and Hindustan Times, IE also passes off Shaikh’s pro-Hamas proclivities as “unpopular political opinion”.
It is pertinent to reiterate here that being pro-Palestine is not the same as being pro-Hamas. IE makes an alarming argument that if Shaikh is fired for her so-called ‘political opinion’ why should the students of Somaiya School debate at all? They perhaps fail to register that not supporting brutal rape and murder of babies and women is not up for debate. It is basic humanity.
“It will also send a chilling message to its students, and future citizens: That the price for expressing a political opinion, even if it is unpopular, is too high. If the principal can be fired for this, why should students debate at all?” the IE editorial says.
Indian Express‘s argument raises many questions: What exactly does Indian Express want Somaiya School students to debate? Whether rape and murder of children and women is wrong? Or, whether supporting Hamas terrorists and their heinous crimes should warrant criticism? Why do they think that the slaughter of women and babies, the cold-blooded massacre of entire families, parading bodies of naked women through streets and killing elderly civilians even needs a ‘debate’ to judge whether it is right or wrong?
Supporting Palestine is not the same as supporting Hamas
In March this year, the United Nations in its report said that Hamas terrorists perpetrated “sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment against hostages and has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing against those still held in captivity.” Does IE want students to ‘debate’ whether parading naked the body of Shani Louk, a 22-year-old German-Israeli woman by Hamas was a horrific crime or ‘resistance’ against Israel?
The editorial goes on to emphasise Parveen Shaikh’s good track record as an educator and principal of Somaiya School in addition to having good relations with the management. It makes one wonder how her professional excellence over the years and good relations with the school management could be criteria for overlooking her pro-Hamas social media activities. What values will Shaikh as a principal of the prestigious Somaiya Vidyavihar instil in students if she calls Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “dog” and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath “evil” and sympathises with Hamas terrorists in the name of ‘Palestinian cause’.
To assert that somehow school principals and administrators are often targeted, the Indian Express editorial talked about a July 2023 case wherein it says that Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists thrashed a school principal in Pune over the recitation of Christian prayers and not those of other religions. However, IE for all the obvious reasons did not mention that the Principal of the DY Patil High School in the Ambi region of Pune identified as Alexander Coates Reid was removed from his position after being accused of molestation, religious conversion and causing insult to Hindu religion. As OpIndia reported earlier, Reid was manhandled by the Hindu activists after they found out that he had installed CCTV cameras in the girls’ washroom without any notice to the management or the parents.
The IE editorial says that the silver lining in this episode is Parveen Shaikh refusing to resign and asserting her “constitutional rights and sense of professional responsibility.” It is, however, usual practice of an average terror sympathiser to invoke constitutional rights, freedom of expression and whatnot when their contentious behaviour sparks public outrage.
Indian Express suggested that Somaiya School should stand by Parveen Shaikh and “serve as an example for education leaders across the country.” What example does the newspaper want set for educators? That you can blatantly support terrorists and rapists like Hamas, abuse your democratically elected prime minister and a chief minister “evil”, support Islamist preacher and fugitive like Zakir Naik, 2020 Delhi riots mastermind Umar Khalid and get away with it by exploiting the ‘constitutional rights’ that the secular democratic state of India bestows upon you?
So, are students of Somaiya Vidyavihar supposed to learn that it is ok to call someone a ‘dog’ and throw insults at them just because you do not agree with their political opinions? Is that what the principal teaching the pupils at Somaiya School? That Jews are not human and it is ok to slaughter Jewish women, children, babies, and even the elderly just because you believe in a greater Islamic cause and it is ok to rape Jewish women? Because this is what Hamas did. This is what Parveen Shaikh is supporting.
Amusingly, the IE editorial also has a piece of advice for Parveen Shaikh. No, it’s not to stop supporting Hamas terrorists, stop using abusive language against the prime minister and a state’s chief minister just because you don’t like them, or stop being anti-Hindu. Indian Express suggested that that her “liking” a social media post may be personal, however, its impact will be public. “And, as a professional who leads an institution of learning, Shaikh should realise that her “liking” a social media post may be personal but its import will be public [sic],” the IE editorial reads.
Interestingly, Indian Express is not the only one defending Parveen Shaikh and downplaying her pro-Hamas and anti-Hindu social media activities. As OpIndia reported earlier, left-leaning portal Scroll and Hindustan Times have also attempted to garner sympathy for Shaikh passing off her pro-Hamas leanings as mere political opinion and alleging that ‘Hindutva’ portal OpIndia targeted Shaikh due to her Muslim identity. However, we have made it abundantly clear that her religious identity is irrelevant, being the principal of a school with the responsibility of thousands of children, but the fact that Parveen Shaikh holds pro-Hamas views is very much relevant and alarming.
