Parents of Class VII students of St. Gerosa English Higher Primary School, Jeppu, met Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal and Deputy Commissioner M.P. Mullai Muhilan here on Friday and urged them to register the complaint filed by them against the English teacher of the school, Sister Prabha, whom they have accused of hurting religious feelings of students in the classroom.
The school on Thursday denied the charge and said the teacher did not make any derogatory remarks about Hindu religion.
The parents said they had given the complaint to Mangaluru City South police station on February 11 accusing the teacher of hurting the religious feelings of their children while teaching the poem ‘Work Is Worship’ by Rabindranath Tagore. It is nearly a week and the police are yet to inquire into the matter and register the complaint, they said.
But, they said, the Mangaluru South police have registered the complaint filed by one Anil Gerald Lobo against Mangaluru city MLAs D. Vedavyasa Kamath and Y. Bharath Shetty, Vishwa Hindu Parishad Mangaluru Pranta joint secretary Sharan Pumpwell, and two councillors of Mangaluru City Corporation Sandeep Garodi and Bharath Kumar, accusing them of provoking enmity among groups by staging protest outside the school on February 12. Mr. Kamath and the two councillors had joined the parents in the protest demanding action against the teacher. Dr. Shetty and Mr. Pumpwell were not present at the protest. The police should dismiss what they called the fictitious compliant filed against the MLAs and others, the parents said.
Mr. Agrawal said action on the complaint by parents would be taken after the police get the report of the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI), who is inquiring into the allegations.
Taking to reporters later, the parents said their wards were being targeted for speaking against the teacher. “Our children are being singled out and harassed,” a parent alleged. “We brought to light what our wards faced in the classroom. Unfortunately, it has now taken a political turn,” another parent said. “If no action is taken on our complaint, we have no other way but to make our children quit the school,” another parent said.
BJP delegation meets Police Commissioner
Meanwhile, a delegation of BJP Mahila Morcha’s Mangaluru City South Assembly unit met Mr. Agrawal and Mr. Muhilan and demanded an investigation into the allegations made against the teacher.
Complaint to Speaker
Meanwhile, a Congress delegation led by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Ivan D’Souza submitted a complaint to Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader in Bengaluru on Friday seeking disqualification of Mr. Kamath and Dr. Shetty as the Congress alleged that their conduct relating to the issue was against the Constitution.
BJP stages protest
The BJP staged a protest at Kavoor Junction in the city on Friday, accusing the police of filing a false case against Dr. Shetty, who, the party said, did not participate in the protest staged in front of the school on February 12.
