A ‘padha puja’ for teachers along with ‘Bharata Mata puja’ on Saturday organised at the Sethupati Higher Secondary School, where poet and freedom fighter Subramania Bharathi taught, ran into controversy with organisations associated with Left parties registering their opposition.
Members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front and a few other organisations gathered at the government-aided school as a mark of protest and alleged that the BJP and the RSS-affiliated bodies were organising the event to push their ‘Hindutva’ agenda in schools.
The school administration, however, refuted the allegations by claiming that no political outfits were involved in the event and it had only provided the venue to Kesava Seva Kendram and Shri Krishna Cultural Trust (SKCT) that had organised the event as part of ‘guru poornima’.
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‘RSS agenda’
M. Balasubramanian, district president of TNUEF, said these two organisations belonged to the RSS ‘family’ and pointed to the presence of a number of the BJP and RSS functionaries at the function. “Apart from making students wash the feet of teachers, the ceremony included a puja to a portrait of ‘Bharata Mata’ with RSS flag,” he alleged.
“It is strange that a school where the progressive poet Bharathi once taught is becoming a venue for such events. Is it not the responsibility of schools to impart scientific temper among children instead of performing such pujas,” he asked.
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N. Srinivasan, managing trustee of SKCT, said the function was organised in memory of sage Vyasa as part of Indian culture of respecting the teachers. “We organised ‘gau puja’ and ‘ganga puja’ as a mark of purification, followed by ‘bharata mata puja,’ ‘sri padha puja’ and ‘adhi guru puja,’” he said.
“We had invited all those who wanted to respect their teachers, even if they are not in service. Children and alumni from many institutions took part. One of the participants performed ‘padha puja’ for a teacher who is a Christian,” he said.
Stating that there was nothing wrong in RSS functionaries being part of the puja, he questioned whether the Left organisations would raise similar objections to religious events organised in schools run by religious minorities.
Officials visit school
N. Marimuthu, Chief Educational Officer, Madurai, said officials from the School Education Department visited the school to inquire about the incident.
“It was a working day. We were assured by the school that only the venue was provided with no participation from schoolchildren. The event was over before the school hours,” he added.