Muslim teachers force Hindu boys to offer Namaz, suspended

The two boys were allegedly asked to offer Namaz along with other students. The teachers had also attempted to change their religion. A  student of class VIII and IX, the two students were the only Hindu students in the school.

Two Muslim teachers were accused of forcing the only two Hindu students of a government-run residential school in Mewat to offer Namaz. Following the accusation, they were suspended and another one was transferred. To investigate the charges, a three-member panel was formed, led by the district education officer and the deputy commissioner Mani Ram Sharma who were to probe the charges against the teachers of the Mewat Model School in Madhi village. The other members of the probe panel were district education officer Dinesh Shastri, tehsildar Basti Ram and Ahmad.

Meanwhile, Sharma said, "We have constituted a committee to carry out investigation independently, but we took action against the three teachers based on preliminary investigation. The matter is sensitive."

The teachers- a computer science teacher, an Urdu teacher and a social science teacher who is also the hostel warden- were put to justice after the parents of the students complained to Mani Ram Sharma on July 22. The two boys are cousins- one studying in class VIII and the other one studying in class IX. Speaking to the TOI, teacher in-charge Naveen Shakti said, "Other students in the school have said the three teachers would ask the two Hindu students to abide by Islamic norms and offer namaz. The teachers also often asked the two Hindu students to convert to Islam."

The computer science teacher and the Urdu teacher were suspended on July 28 while the hostel warden has been transferred to another school in Firozpur Zhirka. However, that lands the school up in a different sort of trouble. It now has only 5 teachers. Project officer of the Mewat Development Agency, Shamim Ahmed said, "As per the complaints of the parents, action has been taken against the teachers. The truth will come out after the final probe report."