Police begin probe over recitation of Allama Iqbal prayer in UP school
Bareilly (UP), Dec 23: Police have recorded the statements of staff at a school here over the recitation of "madrassa-type prayers", a charge levelled by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad over an Urdu prayer written by Allama Iqbal.
The school principal, Nahid Siddiqui, has been suspended and a probe ordered against shiksha mitra (para teacher) Waziruddin after they were booked by the police in connection with this, Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Vinay Kumar said.
The incident happened at a government higher primary school located in Faridpur, he said.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rajkumar Agarwal on Friday said, "We have recorded the statements of staff of the school and have sent a video of the alleged incident for forensic examination."
In the video children can be heard singing, "Mere Allah burai se bachana mujhko, nek jo rah ho us rah pe chalana mujhko...Lab pe aati he dua ban ke tamanna meri..."
Some members of the local unit of the VHP accused Siddiqui and Waziruddin of hurting religious sentiments of the people in a Hindu-dominated area, Kumar said.
The VHP members also alleged that the accused were trying to convert the students, he said.
Based on a complaint by the VHP's city president Sompal Rathore, an FIR was registered against the principal and the shiksha mitra on Wednesday.
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MediaOne TV Facebook page restored after block linked to ‘government request’
Kochi: The official Facebook page of Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV has been restored after being blocked without prior notice, the broadcaster said on Wednesday.
The channel was quoted by Maktoob as saying that the restriction was lifted automatically, with Meta Platforms informing it that the action had been taken following a “government request” which has now expired or been reversed.
The development came shortly after the channel approached the Kerala High Court challenging the blocking of its page, terming it arbitrary and in violation of legal provisions and judicial precedents. The High Court had issued notice to Meta via email hours before the restriction was withdrawn.
In its petition, the channel said access to its Facebook page had been restricted for users in India without citing any specific content or alleged violation. It contended that while individual posts may be taken down under applicable a rule, blocking an entire page goes beyond the scope of such measures.
The incident followed an earlier action taken against the channel in 2022, when the Ministry of Information and transmitting prohibited it from transmitting. It cited national security concerns regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs' refusal of security clearance.
The Supreme Court of India in April 2023 set aside the ban, observing that national security claims cannot be made without substantive basis and that criticism of government policies does not render a media outlet anti-national.
