Hyderabad: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday, July 17, issued a notice to the Telangana government over the “kalma” row at Success The School in Hyderabad, seeking a reply from the state on the controversy that erupted after a teacher gave Class 2 students homework to learn the kalma and Surah Fatiha.
The commission took cognisance of the matter days after the incident triggered protests outside the school, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers being detained in the melee.
How the row began
The controversy came to light after pictures of a student’s school diary were shared online. The child, a Class 2 student enrolled at Success The School in Saidabad, had been asked to recite the Kalma and Surah Fatiha.
Parents said the teacher had noted “Read Surah Fatiha” in the diary under the subject “Deeniyath” on July 15. Days earlier, on July 11, the same teacher had written “Read Kalima” in the diary, but the entry was struck off, apparently after she realised the subject did not apply to a non-Muslim student.
The school management said nearly all its students are Muslim and are taught “Deeniyath,” or Islamic studies, as a regular subject, but maintained that it was never meant to be taught to non-Muslim children. It described the episode as an inadvertent mistake, even as it went ahead and terminated the teacher’s services.
The child’s aunt, Supritha Goud, said the principal had initially told the family the exercise was mandatory for all students, before another staff member changed course and said the entry had been made in error. The family demanded strict action against the school authorities, arguing that schools should stick to education and respect the religious beliefs of every child.
Teacher sacked, barred from group
Following the parents’ protest, the school terminated the teacher, identified as Shaik Aisha Parveen, and permanently barred her from seeking employment at any institution under the Success Group of Educational Institutions.
The incident quickly snowballed into a political controversy. Independent MLA T Raja Singh called it deeply shameful that a Class 2 student was allegedly “pressured to recite the Kalma,” claiming it was not an isolated case and that similar incidents had occurred in Telangana before. He said the school authorities had no answers when the child’s parents confronted them and demanded that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy act against schools compelling Hindu children to recite the Kalma.
BJP leader TR Srinivas alleged that assigning Quranic verses to a non-Muslim student amounted to an attempt at “backdoor conversion” of Hindu children and demanded a probe by the police commissioner as well as a statement from the state education department. Mahamandaleshwar Vishnu Das also alleged a bid to convert Hindu children in the city.
On Thursday, July 16, police detained BJP leader Andela Sriramulu Yadav and other party workers who were protesting outside the school. Yadav questioned the institution’s conduct, demanded that it be shut down and the principal removed, and invoked the Pahalgam terror attack while criticising the school’s handling of the matter.
Parents withdraw complaint
Even as the political row raged, the family at the centre of the controversy chose to step back. On Thursday, the student’s parents withdrew their complaint after accepting the school’s apology and deciding to “resolve the issue.”
In a letter addressed to the school principal, the parents wrote, “We, the parents of [name withheld], Grade 2, son of Gayakwada Raja Shekar, resolve the issue happened in the school on 15 July 2026 regarding the homework given in the diary to my son by the Mother teachers, we have accepted the apologise from the teacher and will not repeat this mistake in future. We expect full cooperation from the management and teachers and request the authorities to withdraw the complaints.”
Speaking to Siasat.com, the father, G Rajashekhar, said it was entirely their own decision to withdraw the complaint.
With the family’s withdrawal, the NHRC’s notice to the state government now leaves the matter to be examined independently of the parents’ own resolution, placing the onus back on the Telangana government to respond to the human rights body.
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