Shiksha Mitra arrested for ‘making students’ recite Muhammad Iqbal’s poem in UP’s Bareilly, sacked
Wazeeruddin was sacked by the state education department after officials said he was found ‘guilty’ of getting students to recite Muhammad Iqbal’s ‘Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua’, which was not prescribed for government schools.
Wazeeruddin and principal Siddiqui were booked on Wednesday after a video of students reciting ‘Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua’ went viral. (Representational image via Unsplash) The shiksha mitra booked in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by ‘making students’ of a government school recite Muhammad Iqbal’s ‘Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua’ poem during the morning assembly has been arrested and sacked.
Wazeeruddin was arrested on Friday just two days after he was booked by the Fareedpur police in Bareilly. Wazeeruddin was also sacked by the state education department with officials saying that he was found to be “guilty” of getting the students to recite the prayer, which was not prescribed for government schools.
“Wazeerduddin was arrested on Friday and has been sent to judicial custody. Principal Nahid Siddiqui was on leave when the said incident happened and based on the investigation findings, further action will be taken against her,” Fareedpur Station House Officer Dayashankar told The Indian Express.
Wazeeruddin and principal Siddiqui were booked on Wednesday after a video of students reciting ‘Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua’ went viral. The education department had suspended Siddiqui.
The FIR against Siddiqui and Wazeeruddin was registered at Fareedpur police station on a complaint lodged by a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) functionary, Sompal Singh Rathore, who alleged that a “religious prayer” was recited at the government school in a bid to convert the students.
‘Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua’ was penned in 1902 by Muhammad Iqbal, also known as Allama Iqbal, who wrote ‘Saare Jahaan Se Achcha’.
Bareilly Basic Shiksha Adhikari Vinay Kumar said that Wazeeruddin has been sacked from his position of shiksha mitra. “He has been sacked by the department. He was found to be guilty in the probe. It was found that he was guilty of getting a different prayer sung (during morning assembly),” said Kumar.
In his complaint to the police, the VHP functionary alleged, “…teachers Nahid Siddiqui and Wazeeruddin were making the students reciter prayer as per Muslim method with an intention to hurt sentiments of the Hindus… This is being done by the two teachers to attract students towards Islam… Both the teachers are hurting the sentiments of Hindus and preparing for the students’ conversion.”
The case against Siddiqui and Wazeeruddin was lodged under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 298 (uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) of the Indian Penal Code.
Three years ago, in October 2019, the headmaster of a government primary school in Bisalpur area of Pilibhit was suspended following a complaint by local VHP workers who alleged that the teacher made students recite a religious prayer, usually recited in madrasas. In that case, too, the students had recited Allama Iqbal’s ‘Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua’.
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