Indian teacher asking students to slap Muslim kid sparks outrage

An undated video of an Indian teacher allegedly encouraging Hindu students to slap a Muslim student went viral with UP's Muzaffarnagar Police, child rights body NCPCR, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor reacting to it.

"I have declared jitne bhi Mohammedan bachhe hai..." the teacher said on the camera apparently encouraging Hindu students to thrash a Muslim kid in the class. It is not yet known how the video was shot as the teacher seemed to be engaged in a conversation with the person explaining what she was doing. Police said the kid who was being beaten up in the video could not remember maths tables.

"In the video, some objectionable comments were made. We spoke to the principal of the school and this fact came to light that the female teacher said that those Mohammedan students whose mother did not look after their studies, do not perform well. The person who recorded the video confirmed it, " Muzaffarnagar Police said in a video.

As caught on the camera, one kid thrashed another kid, presumably Muslim, while the second kid was crying. "Aey kya tum maar rahe ho iske.. jor se maaro naa...chalo aur kiska number hai,(What are you doing? Why are you not beating him harder)" the teacher was heard saying asking the students to give a good beating to the Muslim kid in question.

Another kid then came and thrashed the Muslim kid when the teachers asked him to beat on his waist too.

Child rights body NCPCR's chief Priyank Kanoongo appealed on social media to not share the video to protect the identity of the children involved in the incident. "In Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar, the incident of a teacher getting a child beaten up by other children in the class has been reported. Taking cognizance, instructions are being issued for action. Everyone is requested not to share the video of the child, give information about such incidents by email, do not become a part of the crime by revealing the identity of the children," the NCPCR chairperson wrote.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi reacted strongly to the incident and questioned why the father of the Muslim student getting beaten up has no trust in the justice system. "Yogi Adityanath is responsible for what happened to the child. Perhaps, you will invite this criminal to Lucknow and reward him. No count of how many Muslim children are forced to bear such humiliation silently. It is common to call Muslim children 'Jihadi' or 'Pakistani' in schools," Owaisi wrote.

NCPCR chief asked Owaisi not to share the video as it can be a threat to the privacy of the children. NCPCR will fight the child's battle with promptness and ensure justice, Kanoongo wrote.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor expressed shock over the video and wrote: "This is unbelievable. I cannot believe this is happening in our country & the people concerned are not in jail. All Indians must hang our heads in #Shame that this is what all our constitutional rights and freedoms can be reduced to."

Reports claimed the video was from Neha Public school of village Khubbapur in Muzaffarnagar. The students were seen sitting on the floor.

The father of the Muslim student said he did not want to file a police complaint. "We have come to a middle ground that I will remove my kid from the school and won't file any police complaint," the father said.