Ahmedabad stabbing: Schools, shops in area shut in protest; state government should take over school, says parents’ association
Protesting NSUI members, who had gathered outside the school where a teenaged student was allegedly stabbed to death by another, were detained by the police
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The school where the incident took place has been shut till Sunday with the authorities issuing a message to the parents in this regard.Two days after the death of a Class X student after allegedly being stabbed by another student in Ahmedabad, protests continued outside their school on Thursday with other private schools in the vicinity joining the call for a bandh and parents demanding action against the institute’s authorities for alleged negligence.
Parents’ association has demanded that an FIR be filed against school management for alleged destruction of evidence. They have also demanded that the school be “taken over” by the state government.
Meanwhile, members of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress, who had gathered outside the school to mark their protest, were detained by the police Thursday morning.
“It is really shocking how such a trivial matter of pushing each other led to a student being stabbed and later dying of injuries. All that we demand is strict action against the school and compensation to parents of the deceased student. If not, we will continue our protest and in a stronger manner,” Narayan Bharwad, spokesperson of Gujarat NSUI, said.
Around 12.30 pm on Tuesday, the 15-year-old victim was stabbed in the stomach by a 16-year-old boy – a student of the same school. The attack was allegedly a result of an altercation between the students a week ago.
Demanding an FIR against the school trustees, the All Gujarat Parents’ Association submitted a representation to the district collector.
“We have received information that evidence was destroyed in the school where the blood stains have been cleaned. Our association demands that strictest action be taken against all the trustees, an FIR be registered against them, and an example be set in the society,” Naresh Shah, president of All Gujarat Parents’ Association, told The Indian Express.
The school authorities could not be contacted for comment on the allegations despite repeated attempts.
The association said the state government should cancel the school’s NOC (no-objection certificate) and take over its management. “For the last five years, many complaints have been made repeatedly by parents’ associations about various types of illegal activities going on in and outside the campus. Despite complaints, no efforts were made by the school to stop them. Due to this, an innocent student lost his life. We demand that the school be taken over by the government within a week,” the All Gujarat Parents Association said in its statement.
Action from the education department, which is yet to receive response from the school, in the matter is awaited. “We are in the process of collecting parents’ statements, too, who are stating that complaints were submitted to the school authorities long before this incident. Also, since neither any teacher nor trustee from the school is available for a statement, we are still waiting for the response,” District Education Officer Ahmedabad (city) Rohit Chaudhary told The Indian Express.
Local traders and shop owners in the area downed their shutters as a mark of protest against the incident. Several private schools in the vicinity of the school in question also remained closed for the day. These included Hebron Secondary and Higher Secondary School, Best School, Diwan Ballubhai High School, and Jay Somnath Higher Secondary School.
“Though we had opened the school on Thursday, we closed it after an hour when a group of around 50 people reached the school and asked us to join the bandh. Messages were sent to the parents, auto-rickshaw drivers and school van operators to take the students back to their residence. As of now, there is no message for school closure for tomorrow (Friday),” Jayanti Patel, management trustee of Jay Somnath Higher Secondary School, said.
The school where the incident took place has been shut till Sunday with the authorities issuing a message to the parents in this regard.
‘Violent online content to blame’
The Centre for Protection of Democratic Rights and Secularism (CPDRS), a human right activists’ organisation, said the incident is an outcome of exposure of children to violent content on the internet. “It is clearly the outcome of the exposure of children to online violent games, violent movies, web series, etc. While the law will take its recourse in treating the child who stabbed his colleague, we appeal to the parents of all the children to be patient. Meanwhile, we express deep concern over the attempts of some anti-social elements to give this incident a communal turn. We urge upon the administration to take appropriate measures and also urge upon the common people to remain vigilant to foil this sinister design,” Dr Jharnaben Pathak and Bhavik Raja from the CPDRS said in a statement.
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