On Sunday (11th February), a parent of a student filed a complaint at the Mangaluru South police station against a teacher from St. Gerosa Catholic Girls School in Mangaluru for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the Hindu religion, Lord Ram and PM Narendra Modi. The complaint alleges that the teacher portrayed the Hindu religion in a poor light and intended to convert children in the school to Christianity. It has also sought strict action against the accused teacher and the school.
According to the complaint, it is also alleged that the school was spreading misinformation about Prime Minister Narendra Modi related to the Godhra incident and Bilkis Bano and “highlighted them in a disturbing way in the minds of students”.
As per the reports, the accused teacher named Prabha used curse words against Lord Sri Ram and the Prime Minister while teaching students of class 7 while teaching the chapter ‘Work is worship’ on 8th February.
Following the incident, parents, Hindu organisations, and BJP leaders staged a protest demanding strict action against the accused teacher for making insulting and derogatory remarks about the Hindu religion and trying to convert students to Christianity. The videos of the protest showed VHP members, along with students, holding saffron flags, and raising ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans outside the gate of the school.
Along with Bajrang Dal and VHP members, BJP MLA from Dakshin Kannada Vedavyas Kamath reached the school on Monday (12th February) and argued with the school administration.
The BJP MLA asked the school administration, “If you are going to support that kind of teacher, what has happened to your moral compass? Are you going to convert the entire society and our Hindus? If not, why are you supporting that teacher? Throw them out. Why are you keeping that teacher?”
He added, “What did the teacher say about Lord Ram? If you can’t respect a public representative, what will you do with kids? The Jesus that you worship wishes for peace. Your sisters are asking our Hindu kids to not keep tilak, flowers, anklets, kumkum. They have said pouring milk on Ram is waste. Why are you talking like this? If someone insults our belief, we won’t keep quiet. If someone insults your belief, you won’t keep quiet.”
Additionally, BJP MLA from the Mangaluru North Assembly Y Bharat Shetty asked Hindus to refrain from admitting their children to schools run by Christian missionaries.
In a statement, he emphasised that this is not the first time that anti-Hindu sentiments have been expressed at a Christian missionary school. He said, “In the past, they have discouraged Hindu students from wearing flowers and bangles or sporting tilak (bindi). Now, they have conspired to spread hatred about our gods.”
He warned the school management stating that protests will be held if they fail to take strict action against the accused teacher.
Following the massive outrage, Mangalore Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) took cognisance of the incident and initiated an inquiry into the matter.