Police said they opened a case because the prayer was not on the public school prayer list.
Lucknow:
The principal of a public school in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district has been suspended by the state’s education department after right-wing groups reportedly complained to the police about prayer songs sung by children. The police have filed a case. No one has been arrested yet.
The suspension comes after a video clip of children singing popular Urdu prayers “Lab pe aati hai dua banke tamanna meri” The morning session was widely circulated.
The clip shows the part where the kids sing their lines “May Allah protect me from evil”.
Police said they opened the case because prayer was not part of the public school’s daily prayer program, but was related to “religion.”
“Prayer is not part of the approved list, it is a community,” said a senior police officer in the area.
The education department said that based on preliminary information, the headteacher has been suspended and they will investigate the matter.
The song was composed in 1902 by Urdu poet Muhammad Iqbal who also wrote the famous lyrics “Sare jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara”.
In 2019, a principal in the state’s Pilibhit district was also suspended after hearing students sing the song. The authorities took action after the local unit of Vishwa Hindu Parishad lodged a complaint.
At the time, there were reports that the Pilibhit magistrate had claimed that the principal had been suspended because he had not asked the students to sing the national anthem.
Last month, right-wing activists in Udupi, Karnataka state, staged a protest against private school authorities after students performed “Azan” (a prayer prayed by Muslims at sporting events). Mother Teresa Memorial School in the town of Shankaranarayana has had to apologize after activists clashed with school authorities.
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