In Rajasthan’s Kota, a private school is involved in a dispute over a textbook of Class 2 students. Reportedly, the book includes names and terms in Urdu and the majority of the learners who are not Muslims are reading the book. At Shiv Jyoti Convent School in Kota city, second-class students are given the “Gulmohar Book,” which has numerous passages that have infuriated parents. After reading this book, the family members claimed, the kids started asking for Biryani, and non-Muslim kids also started calling their parents Ammi and Abbu.

Parents have stated that their children, who attend a private English-medium school, have started referring to them at home using terms like “Abbu” and “Ammi,” and have been asking for Biryani to eat.

The book publisher of Gulmohar has its headquarters in Hyderabad. Local Bajrang Dal organisers received complaints from parents about the book and forwarded them to the education authorities. The book is perceived as an effort to Islamize the curriculum for the classroom.

 

Parents of students at this school questioned how their kids could learn these lessons in school. Not only this, the school told students to bring biryani to school in their tiffins once a week. What sort of institution is this? What do they tell our children? And what benefit are they providing for our children through such education?

They reflected their displeasure by saying, “We are underprivileged individuals who struggle to make ends meet. In an effort to provide our children with better education, we enrolled them in school. But what are these institutions instructing kids in? If we wish, we may shut your schools forever. However, as of right now, we have no plans to take such action. Our children claim that their father Abbu and mother Ammi should be called at school. Children still enjoy what they are taught. Why not instruct them in our language then? Teach them in our language. Inform them that “mother” refers to Maa and “father” to Baba. Why are you telling them that father is like Abbu and mother is like Ammi?”

Another male parent said, “There are many non-Hindu characters in the novel. “Too Big! Too Small!” is the title of the book’s opening chapter. The children are introduced to the word “mother” in this chapter. Ammi and Abbu are the definitions of mother and father, respectively. The title of another chapter in this book is “Grandpa Farouk’s Garden.” Parents have been calling Yogesh Renewal, the state co-convener of the Bajrang Dal, to protest about the text being taught at this school and the overuse of terms from other religions.”

Meanwhile, several schools in the Dumka district of Jharkhand are under probe for turning into Urdu schools and keeping Friday off.

 

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.