Vasco: Days after principal Shankar Gaonkar of Dabolim’s Keshav Smruti Higher Secondary School was suspended over allegations that students were made to “wear a hijab” and “perform Islamic rituals” on a visit to a mosque, the students on Wednesday said they did not wear a hijab or were forced to do anything and demanded reinstatement of their principal.
“The masjid did not provide us with a ‘hijab’, but we have our own ‘dupattas’ which we used during our visit to the masjid,” said a girl student.
Earlier this week, the VHP and other Hindu organisations said the act of the Islamic organisation to arrange a visit to the mosque was highly condemnable, shameful and would not be tolerated. The school management later suspended Gaonkar, while the directorate of education has said it will seek an explanation from the school management.
“We visited the masjid and learnt about the Islamic rituals followed by them. We were not told or forced by any person or any organisation to do so. We did so only to pay our mark of respect, without hurting the sentiments of any religion or community,” the student said.
The students, both boys and girls, also took out a rally after class hours to press for their principal’s reinstatement. Many of those at the demonstration were the girls who were part of the group that visited the mosque, an initiative arranged by the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) of India’s Vasco unit.
At the rally, the students displayed banners and placards to convey that they thought Gaonkar was innocent and had no role to play in the ‘hijab’ controversy.
A student said that the group is demanding justice for Gaonkar. “He is innocent. He has not done anything wrong and has committed no crime. Respecting other religions is not a crime. Our Constitution has never objected to any religion. It is the democratic right of our citizens to respect the religions of others,” the student said.
All the girl students who participated in the demonstration have demanded that the school management revoke Gaonkar’s suspension at the earliest. “Whatever allegations or charges have been framed by the people against the SIO of India and against the masjid are baseless and false,” a student said.
VHP’s South Goa joint secretary and Mormugao taluka secretary Sanju Korgaonkar had called it a “school jihad” and said: “The Hindu community and VHP will never allow these types of practices.”
“The masjid did not provide us with a ‘hijab’, but we have our own ‘dupattas’ which we used during our visit to the masjid,” said a girl student.
Earlier this week, the VHP and other Hindu organisations said the act of the Islamic organisation to arrange a visit to the mosque was highly condemnable, shameful and would not be tolerated. The school management later suspended Gaonkar, while the directorate of education has said it will seek an explanation from the school management.
“We visited the masjid and learnt about the Islamic rituals followed by them. We were not told or forced by any person or any organisation to do so. We did so only to pay our mark of respect, without hurting the sentiments of any religion or community,” the student said.
The students, both boys and girls, also took out a rally after class hours to press for their principal’s reinstatement. Many of those at the demonstration were the girls who were part of the group that visited the mosque, an initiative arranged by the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) of India’s Vasco unit.
At the rally, the students displayed banners and placards to convey that they thought Gaonkar was innocent and had no role to play in the ‘hijab’ controversy.
A student said that the group is demanding justice for Gaonkar. “He is innocent. He has not done anything wrong and has committed no crime. Respecting other religions is not a crime. Our Constitution has never objected to any religion. It is the democratic right of our citizens to respect the religions of others,” the student said.
All the girl students who participated in the demonstration have demanded that the school management revoke Gaonkar’s suspension at the earliest. “Whatever allegations or charges have been framed by the people against the SIO of India and against the masjid are baseless and false,” a student said.
VHP’s South Goa joint secretary and Mormugao taluka secretary Sanju Korgaonkar had called it a “school jihad” and said: “The Hindu community and VHP will never allow these types of practices.”
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