Goalpara: A Muslim minor who allegedly brought beef in his lunch box was detained, and his mother was arrested on charges of acts intended to outrage religious beliefs in Assam’s Goalpara district.
Five other students, also implicated in the case, face expulsion after their Hindu classmates alleged that one of the students had brought beef in his tiffin box and tried to feed it to them, The Indian Express reported.
Although the incident occurred on Friday, June 5, the issue escalated as word of mouth spread and various organisations demanded that the school take strict action against the students.
The mother, associated with a local self-help group, was a single parent, having lost her husband. Since he was a minor, the boy was produced before a juvenile court, the police said. Four others are currently being questioned.
President of the School Management Development Committee (SDMC), Subrata Das, said that on June 5, the five students from Class 9 “tried to feed beef” to their Hindu classmates. The classmates informed their teachers, following which, the principal and faculty attempted to resolve the matter within the school due to its sensitive nature.
Teachers, Principal attempted to resolve the matter within the school
“On June 5, the five students of a Class 9 section tried to feed beef they had brought in tiffin to two Hindu classmates. The latter told their teachers, and the teachers and principal tried to resolve the matter within the school since it was a sensitive matter,” Das told the daily newspaper.
However, when the Hindu boys relayed the incident to their parents and other villagers, tensions rose as local groups involved the police. “When it escalated, I went and met the two Hindu boys,” Das said, adding that villagers started gathering in large numbers by then. “The parents decided that they wanted to take it to the law. I called the police station OC (officer-in-charge) that night myself.”
District Commissioner Prodip Timung and Senior Superintendent Nabaneet Mahanta visited the school and stated that necessary action would be taken.
“Such an incident should not have happened, it should not happen. If required, tiffins should be inspected. I have already directed the inspector of schools that students should at most be allowed to bring eggs to school. Fish meat should not be allowed,” Timung said at the school.
He added that a magisterial inquiry was initiated, without giving away the scope of the probe.
Muslim students recount a different series of events
All Assam Students’ Union local leader, Manidul Islam, spoke to the five students and said the matter is deliberately being taken in a communal angle due to the involvement of Hindutva organisations. “The boys said they were sharing the tiffin, when two classmates walked over and asked what they were eating. The issue grew from there,” he said.
Subrata Das said a meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, to decide on the proposal to expel the five students. The school authorities, local organisations and SMDC members had previously met on Sunday, June 7, to discuss the matter. Das confirmed that a consensus was reached in the meeting in favour of expelling the minors. “We have decided to expel them. We will have an SMDC meeting on Tuesday and take a final decision.”
Islam, who had opposed the proposal during the meeting, maintained that the allegations were false. “Whatever the matter is, I said the students should not be deprived of education because of this. We need to focus on bringing back communal harmony to this area where all of us live as neighbours.”
The school, situated in a mixed-population neighbourhood of the Muslim-majority Goalpara district, has meanwhile mandated that only vegetarian food be brought in tiffin boxes.
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