The Infant Mary English Medium High School at Katipalla, Mangaluru, Karnataka is facing charges of Hinduphobia after some teachers forced students to remove and throw the rakhis tied on their wrists, in a dustbin.
The incident occurred on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan when male students came to school wearing Rakhis, to which the teachers of the missionary school objected. The parents of those students objected to this and gathered on the school premises to protest against the faculty and the management. Some local Hindu groups and BJP members also reached the campus and demanded an apology from the authorities.
The parents raised valid objections on how tying ‘friendship bands’ on Friendship day is not opposed but tying Rakhi, which is a sacred tradition of Hindu Dharma, was being opposed by the teachers of the institution.
According to News18, Santosh Lobo, the convenor of the school said that he ‘wasn’t aware’ of the situation in the school.
“Raksha Bandhan is a good tradition. Hindu brethren used to tie bands on my wrist. I am new here. I came just two months ago. For six years, I used to get rakhi tied on my wrist in Kasaragod (in Kerala). We were happy with that. I request you not to misunderstand the situation,” he said. Lobo told the parents and activists that Raksha Bandhan can be celebrated in his institution and no one can object to it. “I will call those children and tell them that there is no problem in tying the rakhi”, he said.
He was also quoted by ANI as saying that “We conducted a meeting of all staff. Those who did the mistake have apologized and the issue has been resolved.”
This is not the first time such an incident has happened at a Christian missionary school. It was reported that the principal of a Christian convent school in Bharuch, Gujarat restricted the entry of Hindu girls who had applied Henna (Mehendi) on their hands and made around 40 of them stand outside their classrooms for four hours. The management later issued an apology after protests by parents.
In Kerala, there have been instances where Hindu students have been threatened with expulsion if found wearing religious symbols like kumkum on the forehead and sacred threads on wrists.
It is unfortunate that small school-going children are being threatened and humiliated over expressing their culture and heritage in these Christian missionary schools which aggressively promote Christianity while lecturing Hindus on secularism.
