Gujarat school faces backlash after asking students to write postcards congratulating PM Modi on CAA
Ahmedabad, Jan 9: A private school in the city had to face angry parents after it asked students to write congratulatory postcards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The trustee of Little Star School in Maninagar area said later that it was only a writing exercise, and the cards were not meant to be posted.
The school is affiliated to the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board.
A video on social media showed parents protesting against the school's initiative, and tearing up a few postcards themselves.
One of the postcards read, "I, a citizen of India, congratulate honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). I and my family support this act".
After facing backlash from parents, Jinesh Parasram, the school trustee, said the purpose was merely to improve English writing skills of class IX and X students, and the postcards were not going to be sent to the prime minister.
The school had no intention to force students to write a message in favour of the CAA, he said.
"We conduct many essay and composition exercises in the class to improve language skills of our students and this was part of such exercises," the trustee said.
"When some parents learnt about it, they came to us saying this may give the wrong impression that they were supporting the CAA. They wanted to make sure that nothing in favour or against the Act is written by students. So as per their wish, we destroyed all the postcards," he added.
The act, which offers citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015, had led to protests across the country.
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Kulkarni became victim of BJP conspiracy as he grew politically in North Karnataka: Shivakumar
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Bengaluru (PTI): Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar claimed on Friday that Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case, has become a victim of a BJP conspiracy because he was growing politically in the north Karnataka region.
Stating that he has faith in Kulkarni and believes he has done nothing wrong, he said the former minister will fight the case legally by filing an appeal.
A Bengaluru court on Friday sentenced Kulkarni and fifteen others to life imprisonment in the BJP leader Yogeshgouda Goudar murder case.
On Wednesday, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, Judge of the Special Court for cases involving elected representatives, convicted Kulkarni and others under various IPC sections, including criminal conspiracy and murder.
“I respect the court. But there was a big conspiracy in this case. When the police were about to file a B-report, the CBI was given the case to harass him (Kulkarni). Vinay Kulkarni has become a victim of a BJP conspiracy as he was growing politically in north Karnataka,” Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, he said Kulkarni has several legal options.
“I have spoken to his family. He swore on God and told me that he had not done anything wrong. I still have faith in him. I feel that he has not done anything wrong. He has an opportunity to file an appeal,” he said, adding that he stands with Kulkarni’s family and supporters and believes he will get justice.
The case pertains to the killing of Goudar, a BJP zilla panchayat member, in Dharwad on June 15, 2016. Kulkarni was a minister at the time. Hired assailants allegedly attacked and hacked Goudar to death in his gym in Saptapur, Dharwad.
Following demands from Goudar’s family and others, the then-BJP government transferred the case to the CBI in 2019.
Veteran BJP leader and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, under whose tenure the case was handed over to the CBI, told reporters in Chikkamagaluru, “I said what I needed to say when the crime happened, and what I said—that the guilty should be punished and justice should be served—has proven true.”
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, BJP leader and MLC C T Ravi, reacting to the court order, said, “Justice delayed, but not denied.”
