The management of Shaheen School at Bidar, facing sedition charges for the controversial anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) play staged by students on January 21, has decided to promote the girl student, who had missed her final examination of Class VI following police questioning, to the next grade without a re-exam.
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She had been accused of delivering dialogues insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and her mother had been arrested for allegedly teaching her the dialogues. A traumatised girl, after questioning by the police, had not taken the exam.
Abdul Qadeer, founder of Shaheen Group of Institutions, said there was a provision to promote a student to next class, irrespective of attendance or performance in the final examination.
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“I admit that it was a small mistake that should not have been committed in our school which has maintained a reputation for the last three decades. But the issue should not have been dragged to such an extent that sedition charges are slapped. The developments that unfolded have had a very bad impact on all of us, especially the children who had to face the police questioning. The girl who delivered the controversial dialogue repeatedly faced police interrogation and she missed her final examination. We will admit her to the next class and allow her to continue her studies,” he said. He added the 11-year-old was in a much better frame of mind after her mother, Nazbunnisa, was released on bail last month.
Mr. Qadeer said the child was more confident after knowing that she would be going to the next class.
He alleged that the issue was escalated and sedition case filed as a result of “professional jealousy”. It was part of a larger conspiracy to tarnish the image of him and his institution, he said. He said “national integration” was one of the founding principles of the school which caters to students of all communities.
‘No sedition prima facie’
On March 3, while granting bail to Mr. Qadeer, Principal District and Sessions judge Managoli Premavathi observed that the case did not prima facie make out sedition.
“The extracted portion [of the play] is only offensive part as per the prosecution. But, the dialogue, if read as a whole, nowhere makes out sedition against the government and as such ingredients of Section 124A of IPC are not prima facie made out ... The drama has not caused any disharmony in society. Considering all the circumstances, I am of the opinion that the ingredients of Section 124A of IPC are prima facie lacking,” she said in the order.
Referring to the massive rallies across the country against the CAA and the national Register of Citizens (NRC), the judge said that “everybody has got the right to express disapprobation of the measures of the government with a view to express their alteration by lawful means.”