A college principal was suspended and later booked by the police for starting a career guidance event with an Islamic prayer in Maharashtra’s Malegaon district, the Indian Express reported on Tuesday.
Subhash N Nikam, the principal of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaikwad Arts, Science and Commerce College was suspended after Hindutva groups alleged that students attending the seminar were being forced to convert to Islam.
“The event began with a small Arabic incantation of Islamic prayer wherein the speaker addressed the students. At the end of the programme, a few men entered the hall claiming that it was an attempt to propagate Islam,” Nikam was quoted by the Indian Express.
An FIR was filed against Nikham after Maharashtra’s Ports Development and Mining Department Minister Dada Bhuse demanded strict action.
The career guidance programme aimed at throwing light on various opportunities available in the defence sector, was organised by Satya Malik Lok Sewa Group, a local organisation.
Similar incidents in the past
On April 19, a school principal was suspended while two teachers were handed termination letters for making students sing the Urdu poem ‘lab pe aati hai dua’. However, parents and right-wing groups alleged that their children were made to offer namaz.
The incident happened at BLS International School in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. Angry parents and right-wing organisations gathered outside the school gates alleging their religious conversion.
In December last year, ‘lab pe aati hai dua’ led to the suspension of a government school principal in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district after a video went viral where a group of students were seen singing the Urdu poem in the morning assembly.
On June 7, the principal of a school in Damoh city, Madhya Pradesh, was arrested after photographs were circulated showing non-Muslim female students wearing headscarves.
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