Couple of days after a school in Karnataka's Mangaluru suspended a teacher for allegedly making ‘anti-Hindu’ comments, the school management has come out in support of the suspended teacher and said that she did not hurt any Hindu religious feelings.
In a statement signed by Sr Anitha, headmistress of St Gerosa school, the school management on Thursday, February 15, gave a detailed explanation of the incident which snowballed into a controversy.
The matter came to light after an audio recording of a parent talking to VHP leader Sharan Pumpwell emerged. In the recording, the parent accused Sr Prabha, the suspended teacher of making comments allegedly disrespectful to religious beliefs while teaching a poem called ‘work is worship’.
In its statement, the school management said that during their enquiry on the incident, the suspended teacher had denied the allegations against her. The management also went on to explain that the poem was taught by giving emphasis on respecting all religions and did not hurt any sentiments.
The school management also stated the interpretation of the poem as explained by the teacher. It said:
Temples, churches and mosques are only buildings. God dwells in the human hearts. Hence do not kill human beings in the name of God.
We need to respect the work and the human beings and see God in them.
God doesn’t exist in the structures but in the human hearts and all of us are temples of God.
When the audio clip of the parent and the VHP leader came to light, Hindutva groups, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and the Hindu Jagarana Vedike, along with Mangaluru North MLA Y Bharath Shetty and Mangaluru South MLA Vedavyas Kamath protested outside the school and demanded action against the teacher.
The school management said that on recognising BJP MLA Vedavyas Kamath, they invited him inside the school but he refused and began protesting against the school.
“It was hurting to see that the MLA who should have been a person for all, gathered the children around him and instigated them to shout slogans, against their own school. The students who were not in the class while teaching the poem, but of other classes were also made to shout slogans,” said the school management.
Sr Anitha, the headmistress, stated that when she approached the MLA to discuss the matter, he demanded the suspension of the teacher and threatened to intensify protests if the action is not taken.
“I told him that I cannot remove the teacher without enquiry as per education institution rules. But the mob led by the MLA pressured me to remove the teacher with immediate effect. With no other go and to maintain law and order and to disperse the mob that was swelling, I was forced to issue a statement removing Sr Prabha from the job,” said the headmistress.