By Sumedha Pal / The Wire
New Delhi: Directors of the Florets International school in Kanpur have been booked by the Uttar Pradesh Police under Sections 295A of the Indian Penal Code and Section 5(1) of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2021. The FIR was registered after a complaint and protest by Hindutva activists over the recitation of Islamic prayers – as part of multifaith worship – in the school.
The school remained shut for the second day in a row over the protests.
The FIR was registered against the school late in the evening on August 1. ACP Nishank Sharma confirmed this development to The Wire, stating that an investigation has been initiated in the case.
The complaint submitted to the Sismau police station states that “an attempt is being made by the school to pave way for religious conversion of the students”. It goes on to add that the school is carrying out “Shiksha Jihad” as students are being made to recite an Islamic prayer.
The prayer book in question, accessed by The Wire, has prayers pertaining to multiple faiths, including the Gayatri Mantra, Sanchi Vaani and a pledge about belonging in India.
In a video statement, Florets principal Shradha Sharma stated that multi-faith prayers had been part of the morning assembly since the school’s founding in 2003 but following the objections raised by some parents to the presence of Islamic prayers, the school authorities have decided to only recite the national anthem. She added, “We followed prayers of all religions and not any one particular faith, this has been the case for the past 12-13 years.”
In UP's Kanpur, parents objected to recitation of Islamic prayer during morning prayer at a school. Pincipal says prayers from all religions- Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism & Christianity are recited. After objection to Islamic prayers, now only national anthem will be sung. pic.twitter.com/ut2soslNpa
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) August 1, 2022
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here
