*Trigger warning*
In a disturbing incident that has sent shockwaves across the globe, a video has surfaced on social media revealing the degrading treatment of a seven-year-old Muslim student for not doing his homework by his own teacher in Uttar Pradesh, India. The incident, which occurred at Neha Public School in Kubbapur village, has ignited a fierce debate on the intrusion of religious differences into the educational system. The video captures Trapta Tyagi, a primary school teacher, instructing the beating of a Muslim student based on his religion. Shockingly, Tyagi goes further, urging the boy's classmates to slap him harder. A male voice could be heard in the background agreeing with the teacher. “I have declared that all Muslim children should go,” Tyagi is heard saying in the video. “You are correct, it ruins the education,” the male is heard saying as the victim stands in front of the class, wailing and traumatized and in tears.
My questions at hand are "Given the teacher addresses the victimized student as close to her as her son and claims to use this strategy with other students as well to instigate fear amongst students to push them to complete their work on time, is the issue being magnified because of the difference in religion? Did this incident even occur because of the seven-year-olds lack of responsibility or was this just an excuse to execute religious hate towards Muslims?" Let's keep in mind, violent methods, be it as small as hitting students with rulers or teachers slapping students in front of the classroom, still exist in many government schools in Pakistan as well. Should issues such as these also be addressed on a global level like CNN did for the former incident?
Following a police complaint by the boy's family, Tripta Tyagi faces a case of voluntarily causing hurt and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace. However, both offences are bailable and do not lead to immediate arrest. Furthermore, after receiving much criticism, Tripta Tyagi has put out a video message, stressing that she had no communal motive behind asking students to slap their Muslim classmate. With folded hands, she claimed "I made a mistake, but there was no Hindu-Muslim motive. The children had not done their homework and my intention was to ensure that they memorise (the lessons)."
The boy's father claimed to have said "he was very upset after the incident and could not eat for a couple of days. He had also started rambling at home after the traumatic experience." Hence, unrealising the permanent mark that the teacher has left on her student, is this apology acceptable? Would an incident of this extent still occur if the boy belonged to a different religion?
Asaduddin Owaisi, leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, said "The father of the Muslim boy is withdrawing his son from the school instead of filing a complaint because he knows he will not get justice" (Topchi 2023). In my opinion this perspective underscores a concerning pattern where many similar incidents remain unreported. While acknowledging the existing political and religious biases within nations, it is crucial to recognize that in a world where social media disseminates content to millions, addressing such situations necessitates simultaneous action at both local and global levels through these platforms.
This leads me to my final question: Would the boy's family have pressed charges if this video did not go viral and if it weren't for the support they received by external groups?
The teacher's actions, clearly reflect a gross misuse of power and an act of religious discrimination. The fact that the teacher immediately links the punishment to the student's religion highlights a significant issue ie using religion as a pretext for abuse. Therefore, the issue does become magnified since this is an act of religious hate. it's essential to recognize the difference between discrimination and discipline. resorting to physical violence based on religious differences is never justifiable
This is absolutely atrocious, a lot of the readings we have done in class talk about the role that teachers play in our development and as people we look up to. Schools are a place of education and not trauma. The INEE minimum standards handbook talks about the effect that a person in power such as a teacher has on a student and how teachers can impact students. This is also an example of the teacher exercising her/his power and control in the wrong way which reminds me of the power and empowerment reading we did. Power is being used by a person to take advantage and to suppress a person who is not in power. Moreover these religious differences…
Burhan i think you do a great job in raising critical questions such as the intersection of religion and education, while also diving into whether the issue was truly rooted in the child’s responsibility or if it was purely due to religious hate.
Additionally, the comparison that is made to the similar violent practices in Pakistani government schools adds a different perspective leading to the thought that such an issue is not only limited to these cases and should be challenged on a more global scale.
In the blog it was highlighted that the father is reluctant to file a complaint due to the inadequacies of the justice system. Asaduddin Owaisi notes that the withdrawal of the student without legal…
Thank you, Burhan for shedding light on this video and bringing it to my knowledge. I had not come across this video on my social media platforms and this made me wonder if has it been removed due to the sensitivity of the topic and if it has caused an additional spark in the ongoing tension between the Muslim and Hindu communities. The video was extremely disturbing to watch and the way the seven-year-old child was sobbing while the teacher and male presence in the background were seen laughing honestly made me sick. As you mentioned the teacher stated in the video that "...all Muslim children should go", her response completely changed in the second video where she claimed tha…
Thank you for sharing your thoughts Burhan. I remember watching this clip only a few weeks ago and I could not help but imagine the impact this would have had on the kid and any other muslim students in the class in. What baffles me is that the only way the teacher could think of disciplining the student was through igniting religious differences and to put it simply, spewing hate. To me personally, bringing in religious differences and bullying the child was a concious choice made on part of the teacher. The child in question is clearly traumatised in the video and if she claims to care for him as a son then how could she continue this act. Best…