January 9th, 2020 / 12:23 PM
Image Credits:Aaj Tak,The Economic Times,The Indian Express
After a private school in Ahmedabad, Gujarat asked students to write postcards supporting Citizenship (Amendment) Act(CAA) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, parents of the students gathered at the office of the trustee’s office to protest on Wednesday, January 6.
Following the protest, the school management cited the incident as a ‘misunderstanding’ and apologised for the same. They also returned the postcards to the parents, who tore them, reportedThe Indian Express.
On Tuesday, January 7, teachers ofLittle Star School in Kankaria area of Ahmedabadwrote a congratulatory letter to the PM on the blackboard during classes. The students from classes V to X were asked to copy the message on postcards addressed to the PM and submit them along with their residence address.
“Congratulations. I, a citizen of India, congratulate honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act). I and my family support this act” read the message.
“My daughter studies in Class VI. I got to know on Tuesday evening that her teacher had asked the entire class to write congratulatory messages in support of CAA to Modi. My child doesn’t understand the issue. She is being forced to be a part of it, which is unacceptable to us,” a parent was quoted by the media.
When some of the tenth class students, who are currently appearing for their internal exams, protested, they were told that those who did not submit the postcards would not be given marks in the exams, a parent added.
As the incident came to light, dozens of parents went to the school trustee’s office in protest, on Wednesday afternoon. When the school management apologised and returned the postcards, the parents tore them in the office in protest.
“The issue has been sorted out, it was a case of misuse of authority by some teachers who conducted the exercise in some classes on Tuesday without my knowledge. We returned the postcards to the parents, and they tore them up,” Jinesh Parasram, trustee and owner of the school said.
The school management also said that the exercise was not done under the influence of any party.
Last week, the Bharatiya Janata Party had launched a campaign in Rajkot asking people to write postcards to PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in support of CAA. The campaign was launched as part of BJP’s public outreach programme to garner support for CAA. BJP workers stationed at main traffic junctions had asked passersby to write letters to PM to show their support for CAA.
According toThe Times Of Indiareport, students of around 15 schools in Ghatlodia area had also participated in the campaign and wrote postcards to the PM.
Also Read:Bijnor Youth Shot In Left Eye From Close Range During Anti-CAA Protests: Post-Mortem Report
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Written by : Reethu Ravi
Edited by : Shubhendu Deshmukh