'Why didn't you go to Pakistan?': Delhi govt schoolteacher booked for making communal remark in class

A case was filed against a teacher by Delhi police after four kids at a government school accused the teacher of using communal remarks in the class. The students claimed their teacher had questioned them about why their families did not move to Pakistan during the Partition.

The Delhi Police have registered a case against Gandhi Nagar’s Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya teacher named Hema Gulati after complaints lodged by the student's families, and police are currently investigating the case.

The complaint was filed on Friday, stating that Hema Gulati made the derogatory comments on Wednesday. The teacher also criticised the Quran and Kaaba - the holiest shrine in Islam located in Saudia Arabia's Mecca.

"During Partition, you did not go to Pakistan. You stayed in India. You have no contribution in India's freedom," the complaint quoted the teacher as saying.

The families of the students have demanded that the teacher must be fired because they are worried that the teacher's remarks could lead to discord within the school. A parent of two students at the school told the news agency ANI, "If this teacher goes unpunished, others will get emboldened. They should be told to just teach and not speak on matters about which they have no knowledge. We demand that the teacher be removed from the school."

"We received a complaint and registered an FIR. An investigation into the matter is underway," a senior police officer said. He further added that the investigation so far has not revealed anything substantial, and the victim has not made any statement as of now.

In the meantime, Gandhinagar Assembly Constituency MLA Anil Bajpai also criticised the incident and promised to seek the authorities to take action against the accused teacher.

"This is absolutely wrong. The responsibility of a teacher is to give good education to the children. The teacher should not pass derogatory comments against any religious or holy place. Such people should be arrested," he said, according to the news agency PTI.

This comes days after an outrage over a viral video from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, where a Muslim student was seen getting slapped by his other classmates on the order of their teacher. The teacher, Tripta Tyagi, was also heard making communal remarks in the video.