The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has written to the Delhi chief secretary and police commissioner to file an first information report against Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi for allegedly misusing children for personal agendas, reported ANI.

The letter by the child rights body is based on a complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoj Tiwari, who had written to NCPCR’s chairperson Priyank Kanoongo against several persons including Atishi and members of Education Task Force.

“It has been informed that the Delhi Education Task Force is allegedly misusing minor children studying in schools for their personal agendas and political campaigns on the directions of Atishi Singh,” the child rights body said.

The body has also alleged that the misuse of the minor children is being done to divert attention in favour of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who was arrested on February 26 by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case related to alleged irregularities in Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy.

On the basis of Tiwari’s complaint, the commission has also named members of Education Task Force Shailesh, Rahul Tiwari, Maitreyi college chairperson Vaibhav Srivastav and Tarishi Sharma, an officer in the former deputy chief minister’s office.

Vice Chairperson of the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi Jasmine Shah has also been named.

In his letter to child right’s body chief Priyank Kanoongo, Tiwari had claimed that there has been an unprecedented increase in the violation of the rights and interests of children.

“We are witnessing that the events are being planned, lined up and managed for the political vantage of the AAP after the arrest of Manish Sisodia who is presently in police remand,” he alleged.

He also alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party is doing so as there is no option left for the outfit after the Supreme Court refused to give Sisodia any relief.

“By using power and position, the principals and the heads of schools are being pressurised, it came to the knowledge that committees are made for coordinating with the school management committees and in conduction such events, the government resources are being used,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have registered a case against School Management Committee convenor Ghazala under the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act after posters in favour of Sisodia were allegedly pasted on Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Shastri Park area.

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How Hindutva hijacked India’s child protection body

NCPCR under Priyank Kanoongo

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is an independent statutory body that was created in 2007 to ensure that India’s child protection laws are implemented effectively. It is specifically tasked with looking into the rights of children.

Its chairperson, Kanoongo, is a former member of BJP’s youth wing. He quit the outfit in 2015 to be appointed a member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. In 2018, he was made the chairperson of the body.

In February last year, Scroll reported how under Kanoongo, the child protection body has been transformed from an organisation “that advocates for the rights of children to one that selectively uses it to pursue Hindutva causes and target religious minorities, as well as independent groups seen to oppose the supremacist ideology”.

The commission has repeatedly taken up cases on the basis of complaints made by Hindutva groups, and reports in propaganda websites.