An incident at St. Gerosa High School, a Christian institution in Mangalore, Karnataka, sparked a mass protest led by Hindu parents, schoolchildren, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders. The uproar stemmed from allegations that a Christian teacher, Sister Prabha was disparaging Hinduism, Hindu deity, Bhagwan Ram, as well as Prime Minister Modi, attempting to influence the minds of school students negatively. The situation escalated when students brought their grievances home, and parents, along with support from Hindu activists and the VHP, entered the school to protest against the damaging of the ethics and religious values of Hindutva and Hinduism, which are the souls of Bharat.
In response to the demands of the protesting groups, including parents, students, and VHP leaders, the school administration took action by suspending the teacher. The decision to suspend the teacher was seen as a resolution to the controversy by the school authorities.
Based on an Indian Express report , Sister Prabha, a teacher at St. Gerosa English Higher Primary School in Mangaluru, used derogatory language against Bhagwan Rama and Prime Minister Modi during a class on “work is worship” for Class 7 students on February 8. Following reports from students, parents and Hindu activists protested, demanding action against the teacher. An inquiry by the block education officer is underway, and a parent named Sharath Kumar filed an FIR at the Mangalore South police station. On Monday, the school authorities announced Sister Prabha’s dismissal and stated they would hire a replacement for her position.
Public raised questions about the double standards in addressing such kinds of religious issues. VHP and Hindu activists questioned that had the accused teacher been Hindu, the reaction from certain groups, often vocal about such matters, might have been different. The disparity in response based on the religious affiliation of the accused and the affected parties has drawn criticism from the parents.
A few of the young students, who were eyewitnesses to the anti-religious and anti-Hindu behaviour of the teacher at St. Gerosa School, told Suvarna News that this teacher continuously and purposefully made statements against Hinduism and Hindutva, as well as its rituals. It hurt the students a lot, and they did not want any prohibitions against following Hindu customs. They questioned the school administration about why Christians can follow their rituals while students cannot follow their customs.
There have been many such cases in recent times in Bharath, One of the incidents reported by OpIndia, where a Catholic school in Hapur, UP, forced students to throw away rakhis, rub off tilak from their foreheads. The ultimate discussion is how a school, which should portray equality and equal rights in all religions without any bias, can have some teachers trying to portray hatred towards Hinduism and speak against Hinduism which was the main reason behind the whole incident.
