Mathura principal gets clean chit in forced namaz row

The principal of a government primary school was reinstated after an inquiry found that the allegations of him asking students to offer namaz was false, an official said.

“The inquiry committee found him to be innocent, and we have reinstated him (Jan Mohammad),” Basic Education Officer of Mathura Ratan Kirti said on Saturday.

Principal Jan Mohammad was suspended on January 31, and an inquiry was initiated against him for allegedly asking students to offer namaz. BJP’s Naujheel block president, Durgesh Chauhan, had lodged a complaint against the headmaster on January 30, Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Ratan Kirti had said. Chauhan claimed that the parents of students had approached him alleging that the principal asked students to offer namaz and that the national anthem was not being sung in the school. Taking cognisance of the complaint, the Basic Education Department suspended the principal and constituted an inquiry committee, Kirti had earlier said.

On January 31, a two-member inquiry committee was constituted with education officers from Chhata and Mant blocks. The committee was initially asked to submit its report within a month.

However, seeing the seriousness of the matter, the committee was asked to submit the report within three days, on February 4, the BSA said.

The committee submitted its report on Friday and found the allegations made against the headmaster to be baseless and false, she added. “The inquiry committee found him to be innocent, and we have reinstated him. We will inform the district magistrate, and the administration may take action against the complainant, as this is not under our jurisdiction,” Kirti said. Uttar Pradesh Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Basic Education Sandeep Singh, who was on Saturday, said that this is a matter of investigation, and if it is a conspiracy by the complainant, action will be initiated. The headmaster has been reinstated, he said.

Senior Congress leader Pradeep Mathur demanded that strict action be taken against the complainant who willfully planted the entire scandal, as the principal was Muslim.