The Karnataka Department of School Education and Literacy transferred a teacher named Manjula Devi and initiated a departmental inquiry against her following allegations that she made communal remarks against two Muslim students studying in Class 5. The complaint by the local leader of a political party alleged that she had asked two Muslim students of a government school situated in Tipu Nagar, Shivamogga, to "go to Pakistan." The complaint was filed by A Nazrullah, a leader of the JD(S) in Shivamogga.
Nazrullah, president of the JD(S) minority wing in the district, said the incident occurred on Thursday, August 31, while Manjula Devi was teaching. While the class was on, two students from the Muslim community exhibited unruly behaviour and the teacher scolded them, allegedly referring to their religion. “This is not your country; this is the country of Hindus. You should go to Pakistan. You are our slaves forever,” she told the students, the complaint said.
The students informed their parents about the incident. The parents in turn notified local leaders about it. The Block Education Officer, B Nagaraj, carried out a preliminary investigation based on the complaint of Nazrullah and submitted a report. In response to the incident, the Karnataka Department of School Education and Literacy took action by transferring the accused teacher Manjula Devi. A departmental inquiry is ON. However, Manjula Devi has denied the allegations against her.
This incident comes shortly after another case in Uttar Pradesh where a teacher at Neha Public School, Muzaffarnagar district, was caught on video encouraging students to slap their Muslim classmate for not studying. A case was registered against the teacher on 26 August under Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of the boy's family.