Opinion Express view on AAP government hunting for illegal migrants among schoolchildren: Leave them kids alone

A question often asked of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is this: What does it stand for? For any party engaged in the complexity of electoral politics, the answer is rarely straightforward. However, in its nearly decade-long stint in power in Delhi, certain essential aspects of its ideological positions have become clear. Salient among these is the fact that it has chosen not to — or, as is evident, lacks the courage to — take a stand on minority rights at a time when they are widely seen as extremely embattled. So lest it be painted with the pro-minority brush the BJP likes to wield across the Opposition canvas, the AAP government whips itself into a frenzy on the issue of Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims. So what if it undermines its own much-advertised “Delhi model” of governance whose chief feature is a focus on its impressive success in improving school education. The circular issued by the Delhi government Monday demands that “schools must ensure strict admission procedures, verification of students’ documentation to prevent illegal Bangladeshi migrants’ enrollment, implementation of greater scrutiny to detect and prevent unauthorised admissions of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in particular”. Nothing could be farther from good governance than this circular which, in effect, weaponises teachers and students, in fact the entire school against the most vulnerable among them.

The classroom must be a safe space. The school is where children learn to overcome the divisions that mark broader society — not deepen them for electoral gains. Of course, illegal migration is a fraught issue and any government that runs the national capital has to address it. It needs a policy response at several levels including working in concert with the Central government whose mandate is to secure borders. School children cannot be the first port of call to address it. A border can be policed — a classroom must not be. In fact, the circular flies in the face of the Right to Education, which flows from the fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 21 (life and dignity) and 14 (equality). Delhi’s Directorate of Education seemed aware of this basic principle as recently as April 2024. Its admission circular stated: “Admission will not be denied to any divyang child, destitute child, refugee/asylum seeker, homeless, migrant, orphan or child in Need of Care and Protection in any Govt. school due to the non-availability of essential documents at the time of submission of documents in the school.”

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Monday’s circular is not the first time the AAP has used parochialism as a political plank. In April 2022, its leaders all but blamed Rohingya refugees for communal violence in Delhi, without citing any evidence. Even by those diminished standards, looking for illegal immigrants in the classroom is a new low. Chief Minister Atishi, one of the progressive faces of the AAP’s successes in school education, waving the notification that seeks to all but criminalise children, paints the picture of a party and government that lacks both political imagination and the moral compass that points true north. It also undermines her party’s “governance model”. Delhi, as the national capital and one of India’s most important economic and cultural centres, should be an example to follow, not avoid. The AAP government must withdraw the circular and ensure that the school remains a place for learning, not fear, targeting and intimidation.