Kalma homework row: Teacher booked under Juvenile Justice Act 

The school management terminated the services of the teacher following the controversy.

Hyderabad: A first information report (FIR) was registered against a teacher and others of Success The School in Saidabad for allegedly assigning “Islamic religious practices” as homework to a Hindu student, police said on Friday, July 17.

Following a complaint made by the student’s aunt, the FIR was booked under Section 299 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion) and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act (cruelty to child) against the teacher, a police official told PTI.

The teacher’s action triggered a massive row on Thursday, July 16, with Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) taking strong exception to it and demanding tough action against the school.

The school management terminated the services of the teacher following the controversy.

Controversy behind the FIR

DCP (Charminar Zone) Khare Kiran Prabhakar on Thursday said a female teacher on Wednesday, July 15, assigned homework to the Grade 2 students that everyone should read ‘Kalma’.

Of the 25 students in the class, only one is a Hindu student, he said.

Further, he said it was a complete violation of both the education policy and the school’s policy since she had instructed all the students to ‘read Kalma.’

The aunt of the six-year-old second-grade student confronted the teachers at the school, alleging she found instructions in the boy’s school diary mandating the reading of certain content related to core Muslim beliefs as homework.

She claimed that the school principal had told her that it was a religious topic which is mandatory for all students to follow.

Parents said the teacher had noted “Read Surah Fatiha” in the diary under the subject “Deeniyath” on July 15. Days earlier, on July 11, the same teacher had written “Read Kalima” in the diary, but the entry was struck off, apparently after she realised the subject did not apply to a non-Muslim student.

Finding fault with the directives and the school’s response, she said such religion-related homework should be given only to those who opt for it.

The school management said nearly all its students are Muslim and are taught “Deeniyath,” or Islamic studies, as a regular subject, but maintained that it was never meant to be taught to non-Muslim children. It described the episode as an inadvertent mistake, even as it went ahead and terminated the teacher’s services.

Bandi Sanjay demands action against school

Taking strong exception to the incident, Sanjay Kumar had demanded that action be taken against the school management.

“Why are the so-called secular outfits tight-lipped on the incident?” the minister asked.

Expressing confidence that the BJP would come to power in Telangana after the next assembly elections in 2028, Sanjay Kumar said it would be made “mandatory for all Hindu students to apply tilak (religious mark on the forehead).”

VHP leader Ravinuthala Shashidhar sought action against the institution, saying its recognition by the government should be revoked.