Suspension of UP school headmaster over Iqbal song may be revoked: Report

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Team Careers360 | October 19, 2019 | 11:42 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Uttar Pradesh school headmaster suspended because his students sang a song may be reinstated, reports The Indian Express.

On October 14, Furqan Ali, 45 and headmaster of a primary school in Ghayaspur, district Pilibhit, was suspended by the district administration for allegedly making students repeat a religious prayer in school. The administration was acting on the complaint of local members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, says the report.

But his students weren't having it. On Friday, October 18, students of the school protested on campus and then walked out, promising to return only when their principal did. They also told The Indian Express that the song they had sung was the patriotic ‘Saare jahan se achcha’, penned by the poet Mohammad Iqbal in 1904.

Earlier, the local administration had thought they had recited a different poem by Iqbal – ‘Lab pe aati hai dua’, composed in 1902. Satish Chandra Dwivedi, UP’s basic education minister, told the publication that Ali’s suspension will be revoked.

Popular man

Ali is popular among students, parents and even some members of the local administration.

The block education officer told the publication that the school’s attendance dipped due to Ali’s absence and that the principal routinely contributed funds for equipment and facilities to the school from his own salary. Parents of students, both Hindu and Muslim, were peeved that the suspension was ordered without any explanation to the children.

The report says Ali joined the school in 2011.

Photo credit: Shutterstock. Photo used for representational purpose only.


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