UP: After VHP complaint, school principal suspended for allegedly making students sing poem by Iqbal
The district administration in Pilibhit town of Uttar Pradesh suspended the headmaster of a government school after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad alleged that the teacher made students recite a religious prayer, usually sung in madrasas, instead of the national anthem
The VHP complained that Furqan Ali, 45, was teaching the children to sing Lab pe aati hai dua banke tamanna meri, a poem written by Allama Iqbal in 1902. This is the same poet who also wrote the song Sare jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara.
Following the complaint, Block Education Officer Upendra Kumar conducted an inquiry. The investigation revealed that the children of the primary school usually sang the poem during morning assembly. Pilibhit District Magistrate Vaibhav Srivastava said that the headmaster was suspended because he did not make students sing the national anthem.
“If the headmaster wanted to teach another poem also to the student, he should have sought permission,” Srivastava said. “If he makes students recite a poem and not the national anthem, then there is an offence against him.”
However, Ali denied the allegations. “Students regularly sing the national anthem and the poem by Iqbal is part of the Urdu syllabus for classes one to eight,” he said. “VHP and Hindu Yuva Vahini workers held protests outside the...
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