J&K: Woman sacked from school she founded for comments on Rawat

Jammu and Kashmir: Prominent Educator Sabbah Haji, who is out on bail in a case filed after her comments on the late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat, got sacked from the school that she founded.

She was arrested under sections 107 (security for keeping the peace) and 108 (security for good behavior from persons disseminating seditious matters) and 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offenses) of the code of criminal procedure (CrPC) reported Bar and Bench.

Haji Public School, which Sabbah is a founding director, had distanced itself from her post and said that her views are personal.

“The Haji Public School management would like to clarify that a recent distasteful media post during the rounds has nothing to do with the school and that the said person has acted in their individual capacity after their tenure with the school ended. Ms. Sabbah Haji is not associated with Haji Public School in any official capacity,” the school management had informed publicly on its official page.

The school located at Breswana, Jammu, is a nonprofit initiative and has been an inspiration for many in the region and outside. The school, which provides children from remote regions with quality education, has recruited prominent people from across the country and abroad.

Doda district executive magistrate Shabir Ahmad denied that Sabbah had been arrested or detained but confirmed that she had on December 17 signed bonds executed under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

“She will be under surveillance for six months and action can be initiated against her if she repeats the act,” Ahmad said according to a report from The Telegraph. “Yesterday [Friday], she signed a surety bond pledging not to repeat it,” he added.

Haji’s online post on late Rawat was shared by many on social media and It prompted some BJP workers to file a complaint against her. They accused her of “abusing the nation” by calling Rawat a “war criminal”.

Sabbah Haji, 39, had admonished Bipin Rawat after his death in a chopper crash on December 8 for awarding an army major who contentiously had used Kashmiri as a human shield against stone-throwers in 2017, when Rawat was army chief.

According to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, forcing non-combatants to serve as human shields constitutes a war crime.