Muzaffarnagar (UP): A video showing a school teacher asking her students to slap a Muslim boy and also passing objectionable remarks against the minority community has gone viral on social media, with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi condemning the incident.
The teacher, identified as Trapti Tyagi, can be seen asking the students of class 2 of a private school in Khubbapur village under the Mansurpur police station area to hit the hapless child.
Taking cognizance of the incident, Circle Officer Ravishankar on Friday told reporters, "The viral video was examined, and prima facie, it seems the child was beaten up for not completing his school work. Some objectionable comments can also be heard in the video. We are looking into the matter and further action will be taken."
Basic Shiksha Adhikari Shubham Shukla said apart from the students, two people are also seen in the video, one of whom is the teacher, while efforts are on to identify the other person.
"Action will be initiated against both the persons and also against the school management," he said.
Asked to comment on the religious identity of the victim child and those who hit him, Shukla said, "As of now, we cannot say it as this is a matter of investigation. Our team will probe this, and the police have also taken cognisance of this case."
Sowing poison of discrimination in innocent minds: Rahul Gandhi
Reacting to the incident, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on X, "Sowing the poison of discrimination in the minds of innocent children, turning a holy place like a school into a marketplace of hatred - there is nothing worse a teacher can do for the country."
"This is the same kerosene spread by the BJP which has set every corner of India on fire. Children are the future of India - do not hate them, we all have to together teach love," he added.
Priyanka Gandhi said, "Where there is talk of technology to go to the moon or things that build a boundary wall of hatred. The choice is clear. Hate is the biggest enemy of progress."
Samajwadi Party on Saturday alleged that it was the "politics of hate" of BJP and RSS that had brought the country to such a pass where a teacher could ask her students to slap a boy from a minority community over his religion.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post, demanded the teacher be sacked immediately, and called her a "blot on teacher society."
"In a viral video from Muzaffarnagar, a teacher is getting a student beaten up by other students. She is guilty of a double crime in that on one hand she is asking other students to beat the child and on the other, she is making them violent. The BJP government should show this video in the G20 meeting and explain how justified is its politics of hate," Yadav said in his post.
Child rights body urges people not to reveal student's identity
Apex child rights body NCPCR has urged people not to reveal the identity of a boy by sharing the video of the incident.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said instructions are being issued for action in the matter.
"Taking cognisance, instructions are being issued for action, everyone is requested not to share the video of the child, give information about such incidents by e-mail, do not become a part of the crime by revealing the identity of the children," Kanoongo said in a post on X.
