A shocking incident involving a school teacher in Muzaffarnagar has ignited a storm of public anger leading to political uproar after a video of her mistreating a UKG (Upper Kindergarten) Muslim student went viral.
In the video footage, the child failed to correctly recite the multiplication table of ‘5’. In an attempt to punish the child, the teacher repeatedly called upon other students in the classroom to slap him.
The teacher can also be heard making derogatory remarks about the educational commitment of Muslim mothers, implying that their lack of attention to their children’s studies leads to their academic failure.
What is even more concerning, the teacher made disparaging comments regarding the student’s religion. An individual present in the classroom recorded this incident and the video swiftly spread across social media platforms. Subsequently, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the female teacher.
The police said that the basic shiksha adhikari (BSA) had been asked to take action against the teacher, but no arrest was made so far.
The incident elicited strong reactions from political figures spanning the entire spectrum. Former Congress national president and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi condemned the incident, equating it to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s alleged strategy of sowing communal discord, similar to the divisive tactics observed in different regions of India.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra emphasised that hatred was the most formidable obstacle to progress and called for unity against such divisive sentiments.
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi squarely placed the blame on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his divisive ideology.
BJP MP Varun Gandhi expressed his disappointment, asserting that harbouring animosity towards a child within the sanctity of a school has brought disgrace upon the education system and nation.
The Samajwadi Party also weighed in on the matter, denouncing it as a result of the “politics of hate” practiced by the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which the SP claims has pushed the country to a point where a teacher feels empowered to instruct her students to assault a minority student based on his religion.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav demanded the immediate dismissal of the teacher and labeled her as a “blemish on the teaching community”.
In a social media post, Akhilesh Yadav wrote, “In a viral video from Muzaffarnagar, a teacher is instigating other students to assault a fellow student. She is guilty of a double crime by not only encouraging violence but also making the students violent themselves. The BJP government should showcase this video at the G20 meeting and justify its politics of hatred.”
“A teacher of this nature is a stain on the teaching community. Educators should unite to ensure she faces appropriate consequences,” he added.
The incident unfolded on Thursday at Neha Public School, a private institution in Muzaffarnagar. The individuals at the centre of the controversy are the female teacher, Trupti Tyagi. and her husband, who runs the school. Both are differently-abled.
The video shows the female teacher conducting a class while seated in her chair, with a distraught 7-year-old student standing before her.
The teacher claimed that she had previously taught the child the multiplication table up to ‘5’, but he had apparently forgotten it. She then asked other students to slap him one by one. As class-mates continued to strike the child, he began to cry uncontrollably. Shockingly, the teacher instructed the other students to hit him harder.
