Farmers Cut Into Hate Yet Again

In the wake of the recent horrific video where Tripta Tyagi, a teacher from a private school in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar is seen asking the Hindu students to slap a Muslim student, farmers of western Uttar Pradesh effected a reconciliation that has come as a balm to the angry, hurt, terrorised spirit of the district, and indeed the country.

The farmers gathered at the site, and made the boys who had slapped the Muslim child come out and embrace him in a lesson more effective than verbal assurances. The fear, however, remains palpable as the news has still to spread and be digested by the parents in Uttar Pradesh, particularly the Muslims who are feeling the pressure, and have come across similar hate.

Speaking to The Citizen, Sarah Khan (name changed on request) said that she had to take her child out from a private school in Lucknow because of the Islamophobia the child faced. “I had to take my son out of regular school after two years of [dealing with] the same issue. So much fighting and persisting with the school had no effect on them. {I am] homeschooling now,” she added.

The incident also triggered memories for journalist Sahar Zaman about the issues her son faced at an elite school located in one of the cities of Northern India. She said that he faced communal hate and speech from other students.

“There was no physical attack but it was a verbal threat. The school didn’t give it much attention till it happened twice, and I warned them I will need to go to the police if the school management does not act. It was only then that the school decided to speak to the other boy’s father and provide counselling to his child. Fortunately, my son dealt with it very strongly, but this hate is spreading fast across all ages, institutions and classes of society,” she added.

For many, the hate is beyond repair and takes away their sanity. Muzamil (name changed on request) said that his Hindu friends have distanced themselves from him since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came in power.

“ All my old friends who somehow thought that I wasn’t one of “those Muslims” are gone. I have zero intentions in having anything to do with anyone supporting them. This is how I choose to keep my sanity. And how I choose to live. And how I encourage ever Muslim with self-respect to live,” Muzamil added.

Manisha, a software engineer based in Delhi, is shaken after seeing the video. “I could not even watch it. I had to shut it down as it was so triggering. It is so outrageous that a child’s core memory is going to be this,” she told The Citizen.

She added that strict action needs to be taken against the teacher for her behaviour. “A school and teacher have the biggest responsibility after parents. They are nurturing the future generation. Here, absolute strict actions need to be taken,” Manisha added.

Reshma (name changed on request), a government school teacher said that the incident as a teacher is outrageous and it is the responsibility of the school to take strict actions against such professionals.

“We have children from different backgrounds in our schools. In some cases, I have had to pay fees for some students as they had financial issues, we do not care what their background is. But this is showing a horrific face of some institutes,” Reshma said.

After the social media outrage, the Uttar Pradesh school teacher was booked on Saturday after ordering her students to slap their Muslim classmate. A video of the incident went viral on Friday with Opposition leaders lashing out at the ruling BJP for ‘hate politics’. The school was also served a notice by the state education department in connection with the matter.

The video in question shows Tripta Tyagi making a communal remark and asking her students to slap the Class 2 boy. The incident took place at Neha Public School in Muzaffarnagar's Khubbapur village and has since grabbed eyeballs across India and beyond.

The police have booked Tripta Tyagi on the basis of a complaint filed by the student's family under IPC sections 323 and 504. The non-cognisable offences will not lead to immediate arrest and require a warrant.

Tyagi meanwhile said that the video has been tampered with in order to stoke tensions. She claimed the video was shot by an uncle of the boy. Tyagi contends that while she may have been wrong to get a student slapped by his classmates, she was forced to do it as she is handicapped and was not able to stand up and reach the student who had not done his assignment.

Shubham Shukla , the Basic Shiksha Adhikari of Muzaffarnagar, said that a show cause notice has been served to the management. The school has been asked to furnish its response by August 28 as to why its government recognition should not be cancelled.