At a time when patriotism is being debated about largely in the public forum, a government school here has come under the scanner for not allowing students to recite 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' during the assembly hours.
The incident has come to light after Shiv Kumar Jaiswal, the Committee Manager of Manas Temple, a social organisation, along with his colleagues visited M.A.M Inter College and asked students if they are being punished for reciting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.
The reports were then confirmed by Sanjay Pandey, an economics teacher at the institute, who said that many students have been punished in the past for displaying their patriotism in school by means of the slogan. He further alleged that the reason for the same was the fact that the school mainly comprised of Muslim teachers.
Speaking to ANI, Pandey said, "A teacher named Javed Akhtar recently punished a student by making him stand under the sun for long hours. This is happening for the past several months. This school does not allow students to chant the patriotic slogan as the majority of the staff is Muslim."
However, Majid Nasser, the school's principal refuted the reports and said his organisation always instilled patriotic spirit among students at the institute.
"I have not heard anything like this happening inside this school. I myself very enthusiastically take part in all the patriotic programmes organised by the government. Not only that, on October 2, I have also taken part in the Swachh Bharat drive," he said.
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