On 27 September, a day before Eid Milad-un-Nabi, a dance programme was organised in which all students, including Hindus, were made to wear the hijab and sing Islamic songs in a private school located in Guna, Madhya Pradesh. The incident caused a huge uproar, with several members of Hindu outfits reaching the school to protest against the school management.
The incident transpired in Prince Public School located in the Cantt area of Guna where an event was hosted in the institution on 27 September. A video of the same went viral on social media in which the minors, donned in hijabs, were witnessed singing and dancing to Islamic songs.
A small student is also seen standing at the bcak and dancing with a placard in his hand. It has a picture of a mosque drawn on it.
Their movements and actions throughout the dance performance resembled the gestures of offering the Namaz (Muslim prayer). The participants looked like kindergarden children whereas other kids were observed sitting in front of the stage.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists accused that all the pupils who were made to participate in the event were Hindus and were compelled to appear in attires which looked like the burqa and the hijab. Furthermore, they were made to sing qawwalis like “Bhar Do Jholi Meri Ya Muhammad” during the programme, according to council employees.
Members of Hindu organisations arrived at the school to protest after the footage gained traction online and demanded action against the school. Workers from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and other Hindu groups demonstrated outside the educational facility and questioned why a similar celebration was not scheduled for the recently concluded Ganesh Chaturthi.
The school management apologised to the Hindu activists after noticing the outrage and provided them with the assurance that no such activity would be held in the future. Subsequently, the teacher who organised the programme and the principal of the school were removed by the school administration.
Notably, Hindu girls have previously been asked to adhere to the practices and traditions of another religion. News of religious conversion and the teaching of the Namaz to Hindu students in the ‘Ganga Jamuna School‘ situated in Damoh in Madhya Pradesh surfaced earlier this year. A major controversy broke out over the issue which resulted in the cancellation of recognition of the educational facility along with the arrest of some perpetrators.
