Jamiat calls for stringent action against U.P. school principal

Within hours of the ‘Slap Your Muslim Classmate’ video wherein an eight-year-old boy is being slapped by his Hindu classmates on the instruction of the teacher, going viral, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has written to the government for “swift action”. Writing to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, besides the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Protection of Children’s Rights, Jamiat’s President Mahmood Madani urged them to “initiate legal proceedings against the perpetrators” and urged them to instruct the district administration “to refrain from attempting to downplay this grave matter”. Mr. Gandhi, in his tweet on X, said, “A teacher cannot do worse than to fill the minds of innocent children with feelings of discrimination, turn a sacred place like school into a market of hate.” He went on to blame the BJP for “spreading kerosene to stoke up fire in every corner of the country”. Even as Mr. Madani reiterated that every child is entitled to a secure and all-encompassing educational milieu, enabling his personal and academic growth, Jamiat’s local unit met the family of the child and offered humanitarian and moral support besides encouraging the child’s father to pursue legal recourse.