The back door of Kendriya Vidyala No 2 in Bhopal was closed and the police force was deployed inside the campus on Saturday after the Member of Parliament, Pragya Singh Thakur, made a surprise inspection at the school on Friday and found around 300 offering namaz in the school campus.
Locals claimed that Muslims have been offering namaz in the school campus for years entering the premises from the back door. Normally 10-15 people remain but their numbers grow on Fridays which was the case yesterday and as large numbers of two-wheelers were parked outside the school, there were talks of removing these kiosks for de-congesting traffic.
Afterwards, a couple of kiosk owners had complained to the BJP MP who had made a surprise check at the school with police on Friday late afternoon. In some viral videos, the MP is also seen slamming the school staff for being slack on the matter.
The MP has also written to Bhopal Collector Avinash Lavania whether the school had written to him about the removal of kiosks outside or offered or complained in the past about people offering namaz on the school campus.
The furious MP had grilled the principal as to when even the parents of the students aren’t allowed inside the school, how come those offering namaz are allowed in the school campus. Local officers from Habibganj police station which remains nearby also could not offer much information saying they never received any information on the matter.
The principal had claimed that he had reported the matter to the administration but nothing happened.
However, on Saturday the back door of the school was closed down and some locals from the Muslim community were seen standing outside waiting for the security guards to open it. As a precaution, some policemen also were stationed inside the school campus, claimed locals.
Locals claimed that earlier the namazis were offered entry from the front gate but during a national level event in the area, they were allowed to use the back gate and since then, the system continued. A religious structure has also been present in the school for years.
“In our country, everyone is free to practice his/her faith but doing it forcefully is not good. The school has girl students from class I to XII who are unsafe in such a situation,” MP Pragya Singh Thakur was quoted as saying by a news channel.
Minister Bhupendra Singh has assured a probe and action into the matter as the media questioned him on the issue.
With inputs from News18
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