Christian school ‘Raided’ by Hindu activists over Arabic class

Mangalore: Around 50 miscreants of Hindutva outfits ‘raided’ the Christian school for forcibly teaching Arabic and Urdu to students.

The incident took place at St Thomas Aided Higher Primary School, on the outskirts of Mangaluru on Saturday morning.

The activists barged into the classroom after locals complained about students being taught Arabic and Urdu “forcibly”.

“The group, along with a few media persons, barged into the classrooms on Saturday morning and snatched notebooks from the students. The members, claiming to be activists of Sri Rama Sene, objected to Arabic being taught in the classroom,” said Melwyn Braggs, headmaster to The Hindu.

Using mobile phones, the miscreants also videographed the classroom and students including Muslim girls without their permission, sources said.

Melwyn Braggs, the Headmaster said that classes (in Urdu and Arabic) were being conducted for 40 students every Saturday for its Class VI and VII students on the request of parents.

Apart from Arabic, the school had reportedly been teaching German, French to students for the last four years. “Only 40 of the 59 students in the two classes (VI and VII) have opted to learn Arabic,” he said.

13 more Sri Rama Sene activists on the charge of trespassing were arrested in connection with the “raid” on a school over alleged forcible teaching of Urdu and Arabic languages, taking the total of arrests in the case to 16, police said.