Karnataka: Gadag school principal who conducted essay competition on Prophet Mohammed suspended

Gadag: Headmaster Abdul Munaf Lad Saheb Bijapur of a government school in Gadag district was suspended on Thursday for allegedly organizing an essay competition on Prophet Mohammed. The orders of his suspension were issued by the Additional Commissioner of Public Instruction Sidramappa Srishaila Biradar.

The development comes a day after the headmaster was heckled by a few workers reportedly belonging to the Sri Rama Sene, a right-wing outfit, for allegedly conducting an essay competition in the school on Prophet Mohammed. Visuals from the school showed some activists accusing Bijapur of facilitating the religious conversion of students.

Parents of children who participated in the competition held protests outside the school claiming that their children informed them about a cash prize for the winner of the competition.

As reported earlier by Times Now, Bijapur had refuted the allegations levelled against him and said that the event was an essay competition meant to improve the handwriting of students in the school. “Every month, there are at least one or two events where we conduct competitions. We have held programmes and essay competitions on Kanaka Dasa, Purandara Dasa and other personalities in the past. These essay competitions are held to introduce the students to these personalities and to help them improve their handwriting,” he told The Indian Express.

Bijapur also said that previously, the school administration had organized events on the occasion of Valmiki Jayanti, Kanaka Jayanti and other such occasions. An inquiry was ordered into the incident by Biradar. The matter was also forwarded to the senior officials in the Education Department.