School principal suspended over Eid skit in Gujarat
An education officer said that it was a ‘lowly act’ to ‘ask Hindu students to wear skullcaps worn by Muslims’.
A principal of a private school in Gujarat’s Mundra town was suspended on Friday after a controversy erupted over a skit performed by students on the festival of Eid, The Indian Express reported.
Videos shared on social media showed some students of Pearl School of Excellence and Value Education in Mangra village wearing skullcaps, while others had their heads covered with handkerchiefs while staging the skit on June 29. The videos also showed the students offering prayers and exchanging Eid greetings.
The video was initially uploaded on the Facebook page of the school, which is run by the Vishwas Education Trust, according to The Times of India.
Over 250 people, including parents of the students and Hindutva organisations, later gathered outside the school to protest against the skit. A meeting was also held between the school management and the parents.
District Primary Education Officer Sanjay Parmar told The Indian Express that it was a “lowly act” to “ask Hindu students to wear skullcaps worn by Muslims”.
“After we came to know about the purported video at around 11 am on Friday, we asked Mr [Abu Sahban] Abbasi, the owner of the school, to suspend the principal,” Parmar said. “Accordingly, the Trust has suspended Priti Vaswani and has reported the same to us.”
He, however, said that his department has not received any official complaints from students of the school or their parents about the skit.
Vaswani tendered an apology for hurting the sentiments of the parents and some organisations, according to The Indian Express.
“It was not our intention at all to hurt or harm anyone,” she said in a video message. “We had done it merely for the festival. Nonetheless, if anyone has been inconvenienced or their feelings have been hurt, I apologise for that and say sorry and assure you that from now on, no activity or competition shall be organised to hurt the feelings of any organisation or parents.”