Damoh news

Bhopal/Sagar: Administration in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district on Tuesday demolished one floor of the Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School claiming it was constructed illegally, even as the school remains in the eye of a controversy over allegations of girl students allegedly being forced to wear a headscarf. HT Image The Damoh municipality had served a notice to the school over illegal construction of the fourth floor of its building three days ago, senior officials said. “The school administration replied and accepted that fourth floor was constructed without permission, so we initiated the process of demolition,” Bhaiyalal Singh, chief municipal officer, Damoh, said. “The papers of building permission of other parts of the school are also being verified.” No statement was issued by the school till late on Tuesday. On May 30, there was outrage by Hindu right-wing groups over a poster outside the school celebrating performance of 18 students in Class 10 board examination, showed girls, irrespective of their religion, wearing headscarves. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on June 2 referred to poet-philosopher Iqbal as he alleged that the school administration was “teaching poetry of a man who talked about the division of the country”. “Such acts won’t be allowed in Madhya Pradesh,” the chief minister added. Meanwhile, the district police have slapped sections of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act against 13 school administrators, who have been b...

BHOPAL/DAMOH: The Madhya Pradesh government has registered a case against a private school in Damoh that has been at the centre of a row for allegedly making students wear hijab-like headscarves as part of its uniform, said state home minister Narottam Mishra on Thursday. The case has been registered under Indian Penal Code sections 295(A) (outraging religious feelings) and 506(B) (criminal intimidation), said Mishra, who is also the spokesperson of the BJP government in the state. Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra orders probe after ‘scarves taken for hijab’ in poster Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra on Wednesday ordered an inquiry after a poster at a higher secondary school in Damoh showed Hindu girls wearing scarves that were taken for hijabs by some right wing outfits. A school official clarified that the girls were simply wearing scarves that are Shivraj orders probe into school 'hijab' poster row Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday said that instructions have been issued to investigate the Damoh controversy, where a school poster shows Hindu girl students in 'hijab-like scarves'. Whatever points come up during the investigation, stern action will be taken accordingly, Mishra told reporters in Bhopal when asked about the controversy. The state education department last week suspended the recognition of Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School in Damoh, about 250 km from state capital Bhopal, after one of its posters allegedly showed gir...

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The preliminary investigation conducted by police revealed that management of Ganga Jamna School in Damoh forced girls to wear hijab in the name of head scarf, Damoh SP Rakesh Kumar Singh told Free Press. On Wednesday, Damoh civic body demolished the illegal construction that was raised in school premises. According to SP, illegal construction, which was around 2500 square feet was razed with hammers by team of local civic body in presence of Damoh district administrative and police officials. The encroachment removal had begun on Tuesday. On Sunday, three persons including the school principal were arrested. The arrested persons include school principal, a teacher and a security guard. The search is on to nab the remaining accused. The accused were produced before a court and from where they have been sent to judicial custody. After the controversy regarding Ganga Jamna School erupted, the police registered a case against the school administration under Section 295, 506 of IPC and Juvenile Justice Act. “The statements of two-three girls came to the fore, after which it was felt that their statement was worth taking into consideration and the investigating committee also sent that statement to us to take cognisance," Singh said.

• • • Reeling from BJP rifts, anti-incumbency, CM Chouhan latches on to Damoh school row to fuel poll campaign Reeling from BJP rifts, anti-incumbency, CM Chouhan latches on to Damoh school row to fuel poll campaign Despite local administration’s clean chit to the minority-run school over 'religious conversion', MP Home Minister Narrotam Mishra has ordered a probe against it; Kamal Nath criticises use of bulldozer at the school The row comes as a shot in the arm for the ruling BJP dispensation, which has been facing anti-incumbency and internal rifts. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Home Minister Narrotam Mishra have seized on it as they look to give momentum to their campaign for the upcoming Assembly polls slated for this year-end. — ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) Late last month, a poster celebrating the school’s success in class 10 Board exams was put up outside its premises, featuring some non-Muslim students also in headscarves. The controversy flared amid swirling allegations about “religious conversion” and students being “forced” to sing Iqbal’s “Lab pe aati hai dua” poem. The Damoh district education officer, S K Mishra had visited the school, spoke to the parents and submitted his report based on which the district Collector, Mayank Aggarwal, and the Superintendent of Police, Rakesh Singh, gave a clean chit to the school over religious conversion charges. Also read | Despite a clean chit given by the local administration, Home Minister Mishra order...

On June 7, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the state’s chief secretary and DGP to probe the role of the management of the Ganga Jamna School in Damoh from multiple angles. Chouhan asked them to include allegations pertaining to land encroachment, evasion of GST, and also religious conversion—a theme that has been playing out regularly in MP ahead of assembly elections. The Ganga Jamna School came in the news when right-wing Hindu outfits accused the school management of forcing non-Muslim students to wear the hijab as part of the school uniform. The outfits raised the issue when the school put out a poster with pictures of girls who had done well in the Class 12 exams. The poster included pictures of non-Muslim girls wearing the hijab. The owner of the school, Mushtaq Khan, clarified that the head gear was a scarf and part of the uniform, but not mandatory. The Muslim family that runs the school has other businesses as well, such as of beedi and pulses. Soon after, Damoh district magistrate Mayank Agarwal asked district education officer (DEO) S.K. Mishra and the Damoh police to look into the allegations. After receiving the report of the DEO and the police, the collector gave the school an all clear. This, however, made the state BJP turn against the district administration. On June 5, top BJP leaders in the state accused the school of carrying out religious conversions. Three faculty members, all women, were claimed to have been converted to the ...

"Open my school. I want to study here and nowhere else. They are after my school," said a weeping girl, a student of the Ganga Jamna High School in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh in front of the police and the media on Tuesday, 13 June, as she stood near the barricades blocking entry to the school. The school, derecognised on 2 June pending investigation over allegations of religious conversion and enforcing of hijab on school students, now also faces demolition citing lack of permission to construct some new structures. Arguing with a police officer trying to pacify the protesters, the girl's mother said: "They have made such a big deal of such a small issue that they don't care about the future of the students. Think of the children, their future is at stake. It's been 12 years since the children are studying there, we never heard of anything untoward. The ones accusing of wrongdoings, please bring there before us. We want to know what exactly are they alleging." • 27 May: Controversy erupted after a poster of students who aced class 10 exams was put up outside the school . The poster showed both Muslim and Hindu girl students wearing a hijab. • 28 May: The poster went viral on social media. • 30 May: The district authorities, as per instructions by District Education Officer (DEO) SK Mishra, inspected the school and gave it a clean chit for any alleged 'wrongdoing'. • 31 May: Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra ordered a probe into the controversy around the poster. • ...