On Saturday (November 6), the administration of St. Mary’s public school in Haryana tendered an apology after a video of its students performing a derogatory ‘Ramleela’ skit went viral on social media. The contentious video was shot within the school premises located in Tohana city in the Fatehabad district of Haryana.

The matter first came to light after one Gaurav Mishra, a journalist associated with News Indian 24X7, had posted the footage of the Ramleela skit. In the said video, the student playing the character of Lord Ram could be seen referring to Laxman as ‘chotu’. The skit presented Lord Ram as a patient of dementia, who needed to confirm his identity and that of his wife Sita from his brother Laxman. Instead of evoking a sense of spirituality and cultural pride, the skit ended up making a mockery of the Hindu epic Ramayana.

While condemning the objectionable portrayal of characters, journalist Gaurav Mishra said, “First, the students of AIIMS Delhi insulted Hinduism and Lord Ram and now, in the name of acting, in St. Matis’ School, see how Shri Ram is being insulted. (We) will not tolerate the insult of Ram at any cost. There should be action against the school.”

Hindu IT Cell Secretary, Sahil, then took cognisance of the matter. He sought help from the public in determining the exact location of the school. He also informed that the Hindu IT Cell team took legal counselling after the incident came to light.

After confirming the identity of the school where the skit was performed, Hindu IT Cell contacted the St. Mary’s public school in Haryana, protesting against the skit and demanding an apology.

Following the demand from the Hindu IT Cell and outrage on social media, the administration of St. Mary’s Public School tendered an apology. In a written note sent to the Hindu IT Cell, the school principal Rajeev Sharma said, “If the Ramleela skit performed by some of our students has hurt the sentiments of any individual, then, we tender our unconditional apology for it. We assure you that such an incident will not be repeated in future.”

Screengrab of the apology letter by St. Mary’s Public School

In a tweet, the Hindu IT Cell informed, “They (The IT Cell team) spoke with the principal Rajeev Sharma. He accepted his mistake and issued an apology. He also assured us that such a thing will never happen again. Special thanks to our core members.”

In the meanwhile, Bajrang Dal members have filed a complaining against the school at the Tohana Police station. But the police allegedly refused to register an FIR in the matter.

The Hindu activists also protested outside the school, raising slogans to boycott it and take action against the administration of the school.

AIIMS Student Association apologises for derogatory Ramleela skit 

On Sunday (October 17), the student association of All India Institue of Medical Science (AIIMS) tendered an apology after a video of a derogatory Ramleela skit went viral on social media. The development came after netizens began demanding the arrest of the accused students using the hashtag #ArrestAIIMSCulprits on Twitter.

The objectionable act was performed by AIIMS students, the video of which was uploaded by 2020 Topper Soyeb Aftab on his Youtube channel ‘AIIMS Insider.’ Popular news channel Sudarshan News had posted the clips on its Twitter feed. At the very onset, the student performing the character of Lord Ram could be heard as saying, “I am committed to Sita for life. If you (Shurpanakha) are so lustful (tharki), here is my brother.” The girl playing the character of ‘Shurpanakha’ then went on to objectify Laxman and sang the popular Bollywood song, “Tu cheez badi hai mast mast“.

With lewd gestures and Bollywood songs, the sanctity of Ramleela was stripped in the opening act itself. In the subsequent act, one actor pretended to be the vicious NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar and referred to Lord Ram as ‘launda (chap)’. Another AIIMS student called the Lord as ‘chora‘ who beheaded Shurpanakha. The ‘Ravan’ in the skit then threatened to abduct the lugai (a rustic reference to Maa Sita) of Lord Ram. Furthermore, there was a scene wherein the King of Ayodhya, Raja Dasharatha, danced to the tune of ‘Sorry Darling’ in a bid to convince Kaikeyi.

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opindia.com - OpIndia Staff