Parents accuse B'luru School of discriminating against Muslim students

During a heated debate with the principal, Muslim parents of students at a Bengaluru school in Karnataka alleged bias. Principal Shashikala was fired for creating unnecessary problems within the school.

In Bengaluru, the incident occurred at Vidyasagar English School in Chandra Layout.

Large numbers of parents gathered to protest the insults spoken about their religion, hijab, and other religious practices by Lady Mathematics teacher Shashikala.

In addition to demanding immediate action against the teacher, they also questioned the principal

Sohabuddin, a parent, explains that this is not just about the hijab. "All the students in seventh grade are complaining about the teacher's treatment of them differently based on their religion,"

The children told the lady teacher that Muslims are only 25 per cent of the population in India, they can't wear hijab anymore in class

Children in our school are getting good educations, but we have some problems with this particular teacher."

In addition, Sohabuddin said, "The teacher wrote some initials on the blackboard and made derogatory remarks about our children. It's an old school with many Muslim students.

"We know about the court ruling about hijab. We don't want to violate it. The grown-up girl students who are supposed to wear hijab are at home waiting for the final court order which will come on Monday. We are confident that the court will permit the wearing of the hijab," he stated.

Principal Shivakumar said the mathematics teacher informed the students of the court's order on hijab and asked them not to talk during class so that they wouldn't miss out on education.

Students mistook the first letter of their name - 'KLS' - for something else. "Though 90 per cent of the students are Muslims, there has been no conflict for the last 15 years," he explained.

Bylanjanappa, Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) of Bengaluru South, said "I visited the school and talked to the teacher concerned. She said that the children are being taught only the syllabus. The teacher was presenting a lesson. The parents misinterpreted their children's words and that is what caused the confusion."