A mathematics teacher in a Bengaluru school resigned after she was accused of insulting Muslim students. Parents of several Muslim students protested in front of the the Vidyasagar English School in Bengaluru’s Chandra Layout on Friday, February 11, alleging that the teacher, Shashikala, had made derogatory remarks about their children. Shashikala however denied the allegations and said the students misinterpreted something she had written on the board. She resigned on Monday, February 14, citing health reasons.
According to reports, the teacher had written the letters 'KLS' on the board of a class 7 classroom on Thursday, February 13. The controversy is over what these letters meant and many versions have emerged. Protesting parents allege that the teacher turned to students and asked if they knew what these letters meant, to which some students mentioned a derogatory reference. They allege that Shashikala then snapped at the students that that's what they were. Other reports claim she followed the letters 'KLS' with a derogatory term.
Shashikala however told Daijiworld, “The accusation on me is absolutely false. I have not spoken or written anything about Hijab. I wrote the names of the students who were making lots of noise on the board. I wrote just KLS, names of the students on the black board in the class.”
Sivakumar, the school’s principal, meanwhile told Prajavani, “Shashikala is an IAS aspirant, she is a very knowledgeable person. She wrote KLS on the board as a code word — meaning ‘keep learning silently’.”
However, some reports state that a parent of one of the students alleged that Shashikala discriminated against students on the basis of their religion. “All children studying in the seventh grade are complaining about the teacher giving differential treatment on the basis of their religion. The children told the teacher that Muslims are only 25% of the population in India, they can’t wear hijab anymore in class. We have come here to question and demand action on this teacher. This is an agitation for the hijab,” one parent said.
The protest by the parents prompted the police and education department officials to rush to the spot and diffuse the situation. On Monday, February 14, Shashikala, who maintained that she was not in the wrong, tendered her resignation at the school, citing health issues.
The school has maintained that the protest or the alleged remarks had nothing to do with the protests over the hijab row, which broke out across the state last week.
Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) for Bengaluru South, Bylanjanappa, said that the issue arose out of a misunderstanding. “I spoke to the teacher and the students on the day of the incident. It happened because the students made another meaning out of the letters KLS and repeated it to the parents. I told the parents that she (Shashikala) is a good teacher, she does social work also. I told them that their children are getting a good education and that they shouldn’t worry about anything else.”
According to the DDPI, the principal of the Vidyasagar school Sivakumar, had told him days before Shashikala’s resignation that she suffered from poor health. “He (Sivakumar) had also said that it was difficult for Shashikala to continue doing her job,” Bylanjanappa said.
This controversy comes as an anti-hijab row is raging in Karnataka. The Karnataka High Court is currently hearing a petition by students of an Udupi government PU college, asking that they be allowed to wear the hijab in their classrooms. The students' petition has kicked off several saffron protests with Hindu students and Hindutva organisations claiming that allowing the hijab in classrooms is not secular. The Karnataka High Court, in an interim order, said that any type of religious clothing including hijabs, saffron scarves, religious flags etc inside the classroom.