Students ‘offer namaaz’ at sports meet, pro-Hindu groups want parents to boycott Mother Teresa school in Karnataka

“It was a misunderstanding on behalf of the management, wherein we were supposed to sing the state anthem during a public function, instead we asked the performers to offer inaugural prayers of all three religions. This did not go well with some groups, because we had asked Hindu girls to perform the namaz. We express our apologies for the same,” Shamitha Rao, principal of the school, said.

“Regarding the groups calling for a boycott of the school, we believe that parents already know about the practices of our school very well and they trust us when it comes to education. The enrolment in our school has been increasing every year,” she added.

“The parents who were witness to this incident immediately shared the video across social media, which drew our attention. We learnt that the azaan was forced into the sports meet and the Hindu girls were made to offer namaaz. We staged protests against the school yesterday and approached the education authorities to flag this issue. Now, all pro-Hindu groups are convening to start a campaign, encouraging villagers to send their children to government schools,” Rohit Shetty, a BJP leader from Shankaranarayana said.

The members of the pro-Hindu groups alleged that the school management does not allow girls to wear bangles and bindis and does not give holidays during Hindu festivals. “Hence, we are starting a campaign to create awareness on how Hindu sentiments are being hurt constantly through the actions of such institutions. We also appeal that from next year onwards, children stop enrolling in such institutions that insult Hindu sentiments,” Shetty added.

Sponsored by Mother Teresa Memorial Education Trust, Mangaluru, the school was founded by lady entrepreneurs Renita Lobo and Shamitha Rao. It offers education from LKG to PU and over 1,050 students from 42 villages around Shankaranarayana are studying at the school.