Students made to offer namaz at NSS camp in Chhattisgarh, 7 profs among 8 booked for hurting religious sentiments

“As part of the camp, the students are made to do different activities like yoga. That day it was Eid so some Muslim students were offering namaz on the school ground. The other students were also asked to offer namaz with them. The issue was that the professors did not ask for the consent of those students,” said an officer from Kota police station.

The complainants are said to have approached the police along with some right-wing group members. A case was registered against seven professors, including the NSS coordinator, and a student who was the team core leader.

Kota police station in-charge Sumit Kumar said, “The FIR was registered by Koni police and later transferred to the Kota police station as the incident occurred here. We have initiated a probe.”

The professors and the student have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 196 (b) (promoting enmity between groups), 197 (1) (b) (c) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 299(deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 302 (uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person) and 190 (unlawful assembly).

When contacted, professor and media cell in-charge of the university M N Tripathi told The Indian Express, “We have not yet received a copy of the FIR. We have learnt about it from the media. We will be able to give comments once the police officially inform us about it.”