UP school teachers suspended after Bajrang Dal protest over framed Quranic verse
Sambhal (Uttar Pradesh): Members of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad forcibly entered a government primary school in Nagla Purva village of Sambhal district and objected to a framed Quranic verse displayed above the gate of a classroom . Their objection led to the suspension of two teachers pending an inquiry.
The activists alleged that assistant teacher Mohammad Nazim was giving Islamic lessons to students. Nazim denied the charges. The school staff and local residents also denied the allegation, as reported by The Observer Post. Videos of the incident surfaced on social media, showing protestors entering the school premises, questioning teachers, and inspecting classrooms, blackboards, and books.
The video also showed the protestors asking children whether namaz was being conducted in school? The students denied any such activity in the school.
Nazim was quoted by The Observer Post as saying that he had strictly followed the prescribed government syllabus and had never taught any religious content to students. He described the allegations as false and politically motivated. The claims of the removal of the posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and Goddess Saraswati, made by the protestors were also denied by the school staff.
Following a written complaint to the police, the framed verse was removed from the school, while Basic Shiksha Adhikari Alka Sharma ordered the suspension of headmistress Pushpa Jatav and assistant teacher Mohammad Nazim. Sharma said the suspensions were precautionary and noted that it would remain in effect while a departmental inquiry was conducted.
Local education activists and residents have criticized the action. They questioned the decision to suspend the teachers before the investigation was concluded. Some argue that the suspension was motivated by street protests rather than proven facts.
Sambhal's Muslim community has also expressed their concerns about what they called selective scrutiny. They also questioned why similar issues were not raised about other religious symbols commonly present in public places.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
