A Bengaluru school has got involved in a major controversy after one of its teachers allegedly forced students to say Islamic prayers as punishment. Reportedly, a math teacher in Orchid International School forced students to pray in the name of Allah for failing to solve a problem, and also instructed them to keep silent about the matter. However, the school, which has campuses in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, has denied the allegations.

The matter of what some are calling ‘Education Jihad’ came to light when Vikram Simha, a furious parent, recorded a video of her daughter who said that she was forced to pray in the name of Allah at Orchid International School, BTM branch, Bengaluru. The girl in the video that went viral on social media, said that her teacher asked the Hindu students to make a bowl shape of their hands and pray. “The Math problem was confusing, we weren’t able to crack that problem. So the teacher told us to pray to Allah. Despite telling her that we are Hindus and we are not supposed to pray to Allah, she scolded us and made us make a bowl shape with hands and pray”, she said.

According to the girl, the teacher said that Allah is a better god, and asked them to pray to Allah.

Blatantly denying the fact, the Bengaluru school in its official statement said that the child in the video was lying and that the teachers at school don’t promote the practice of religion. “We talked to the parent. No such instance occurred in the Math class as the teacher focused only on her subject and never said anything about the religion in the class”, it said after what it called a thorough investigation.

The statement by the Orchid International School reads

“The management swiftly conducted an intense investigation to find that the teacher also does not practice the religion alleged to have been promoted. The allegations made by the child and the parent are baseless. We have checked the CCTV footage of the class and have also spoken to other children. They all have denied the happening of any such incident”, the statement read.

It has further called the act of making a bowl shape with hands as the act of eye palming exercise. “It is a Two Minutes Eye Exercise conducted during online sessions, which is intended to help the children rest their eyes due to the screen time,” the school said. It is pertinent to note that the school has locked its official Twitter handle after Vikram Simha came up with yet another video with his daughter revealing the actual truth.

Vikram Simha says the school didn’t allow his daughter to speak

The parent in response to the statement by school management said that it was not entirely true. “It is correct we had a conversation with the school authorities (Principal and their legal team), but they refused to let my daughter speak about the incident that happened in the class”, he said.

Posting yet another video with his daughter, Vikram Simha noted that Mrs. Manjula, the Principal of the BTM Branch school at Bengaluru, refused to listen to the child. The girl in the next video, again fearlessly spoke about her teacher named Sarika Rana teaching the students that ‘Allah is a better God’.

Further, refuting to the eye exercise claims made by the school, the daughter said that she did not get confused over the act of making a bowl shape with hands to be the Two Minutes Eye Exercise. “We rub our hands and place them on our eyes in the exercise. But the teacher made us make a bowl shape of our hands and pray to Allah”, she showed into gestures.

Several BJP leaders and activists have come up in support of the child and demanded strict action against the school and the communal teacher. However, it seems that the city police have not taken cognizance of the issue yet.

The Orchid International School is managed by St Theresa Educational Cultural and Social Development Society, was earlier in news in October 2014 for sexual assault on a 4-year-old kid. According to the reports, the staff was being questioned in the case of assault on a minor girl in the school campus in the city.

References:

opindia.com - OpIndia Staff