Urging Chief Minister N. Rangasamy to crack the whip on the rise of religious extremism in the Union Territory, former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said the Education Department should suspend the government school teacher at Ariyankuppam who raised objection to a Muslim girl wearing hijab.
In a virtual statement, the Congress leader said the teacher should be suspended immediately. “Even days after the incident, no action has been initiated against the teacher. The government should not wait any longer as otherwise it will trigger similar incidents and lead to law and order problem like what happened in Karnataka over hijab controversy. The Chief Minister should not allow communal forces to raise their head in Union Territory,” he said.
The Constitution has given equal rights to everyone and people are free to practice any religion in the country. “The Muslim students are free to follow their religious practices. A teacher has no right to dictate terms on religious matters, he said.
Drawing the attention to a video clip showing a teacher taking the role of a yoga instructor at a government school in Vathanur, the former Chief Minister said students were seen raising cries of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Vetri Vel Veera Vel.’
Condemning the “attempt to poison” young minds, he said:“It is unfortunate that the incident occurred in the constituency of Education Minister. These kind of things have to be nipped in the bud. Otherwise it will result in religious intolerance and violence, of which the Union Territory has no precedent and it is knownfor its history of communal amity and religious co-existence.”
On the recent meeting of “disgruntled,” Independent legislators with Speaker R. Selvam, the former Chief Minister said if the members have any grievance related to constituency, they should be airing their grievances with the Chief Minister.
“Once a person holds the position of a Speaker, he ceases to be a member of a political partyand has to uphold neutrality. But unfortunately, Mr. Selvam attended party functions at the BJP office. His job is to conduct proceedings of the Assembly and not meddle in political affairs,” he said.
