Hyderabad: After a missionary school in Telangana’s Mancherial district was allegedly attacked on April 16 by a saffron-clad mob, a fact-finding team visited the site and found that the parent of a boy who had been expelled over indiscipline last year instigated the attack.
On April 15 a few students attended the school in saffron attire. Despite not seeking prior permission, the Principal of the school requested them to get approval to don the attire further.
However the next day, April 16, the school was attacked by an angry mob of allegedly more than 300 people, and property including a Mother Teresa statue, was damaged. The mob accused the school of prohibiting the students from observing Hanuman Deeksha, a Hindu ritual of penance for 41 days.
According to the report, the police stated that trouble began when messages alleging that students were being forced to take off the Hanuman Malas and that they weren’t allowed to write exams were circulated on WhatsApp. The WhatsApp message was circulated among the locals with false information.
The enraged mob also alleged that the school, identified as Christian, was obstructing Hindu rituals and declared that such actions were unacceptable in “our country, India, which belongs to us”. People who had gathered at the two Anjaneya temples for the Hanuman Deeksha also joined the mob. They accused the Principal of attempting to forcefully remove the malas worn by some of the students and preventing them from writing the exams.
According to locals, the mob went to the town after attacking the school and forcefully closed meat shops owned by Muslims.
However, the report by the fact-finding team, constituted by Hyderabad activists SQ Masood, Khalida Parveena, Sara Mathews and Kaneez Fathima, stated that the school had denied the claims by the mob.
According to management of the school, there was no attempt to forcefully remove the Hanuman malas nor were the students stopped from writing the exams. The management also has proof of these students writing exams. Despite a formal apology earlier the Principal was allegedly made to apologise publicly and harassed by the mob.
Mob assaults, harrases school Principal
The fact-finding team, while speaking to a hesitant school management, also found that the former principal, who now works as the school manager, was also assaulted. The mob allegedly forced him into apologising publicly on the school’s microphone. The mob also forced him to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.
Someone from the mob also allegedly applied a tilak on the helpless man’s forehead and he was made to wear the saffron khandwa (stole) and Hanuman mala.
Aside from this the team also found windows of the first floor, second floor, and computer lab broken. The security guard room and school gates were damaged. Mother Teresa’s statue now lies in a deserted classroom, with a gaping hole where once its face was.
Police book mob, school management
So far, two FIRS have been registered, one against the mob and the other against the school management. The police have identified 20-25 people from the mob with the help of CCTV footage and summoned them for investigation. However, no arrests have been made so far.
The school management has been booked under sections 153 and 295A IPC. While the mob has been booked under sections 143, 295A, 153A, 323, 427, 452, 353, 506, 147, and 149 of the Indian Penal Code.
The police have identified the parent of one student, who was expelled over indiscipline and unruly behaviour despite several warnings and efforts to guide them, as one of the main instigators of the violence.
The parent allegedly abused the school management, accusing them of being anti-Hindu and the Principal of conversions, etc. One of the two was also a part of the mob and was seen vandalizing the school property.
‘Missionary school has majority Hindu students’
The fact-finding team reported that the school has been running for the past 15 years in the area of Kannepally with locals mainly Hindus benefiting from the quality education. The school also provided fee concessions to students belonging to a financially weaker section of the society.
The school has a total of 1033 students from the Kannepalli Panchayat on its rolls of which only 28 are Christians and 33 are Muslims. There are about 40 teachers of which only 6 are non-locals. The school ensures quality of education for the local students and also employs over 100 local people.
Though most of the children are from middle-class families, the management gives fee concessions to students whose families face financial constraints on compassionate grounds.
The management has stated that 80 percent of the parents have expressed their support for the school management post the violence.
Fact-finding team demands withdrawal of FIR against management
The fact-finding committee has demanded that the perpetrators be arrested at the earliest after a free and fair investigation by the police.
The committee also demanded that the FIR against the school be withdrawn immediately as prime facie there is no such act done by the management as claimed by the mob.
“Rumors must be prevented by the authorities and the school management must be compensated for the loss it suffered due to vandalism and abuse. It also demanded that the state government take measures to ensure peace and harmony by constituting “National Integration Councils” at the state, district, mandal and educational levels,” stated the report.
