BHOPAL: A fancy-dress performance by a Class I student at a missionary school in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district has triggered a controversy, with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers demanding a public apology from the school over a skit highlighting unemployment, corruption and other issues while depicting democracy as absent.
ABVP workers visited Christ Senior Secondary School and submitted a memorandum to the principal, setting a 72-hour deadline for an apology. Divyansh Bakshi, an ABVP worker, alleged that children had been deliberately used to play politics and described the performance as reflecting an “urban naxal” mindset. He also demanded an apology from the girl’s parents.
The controversy centres on a fancy-dress competition in which the Class I student appeared with a cloth tied over her mouth and a placard reading, “Unemployment and Corruption: Present, Democracy: Absent.” The performance was titled Sarkar ki Pathshala (Government’s Schoolhouse).
The placard listed 10 entries, marking unemployment, hatred, corruption, terrorism, inflation, poverty, vote theft, paper leaks and scams as “present”, while democracy was marked “absent”. The presentation used the familiar school ritual of roll call to comment on governance and public issues.
The child is reportedly the daughter of a Congress leader, though the family’s own account has not been reported.
For the school, the matter became a damage-control exercise. Principal Babu John said the episode was being taken seriously. A notice was issued to the class teacher, and a written explanation went to the District Education Officer.
That officer, Samar Singh Rathore, said no such explanation had reached his office when he was asked. He said a committee would be formed, and that action would follow whatever facts it finds.
Then the matter reached Delhi. The National Human Rights Commission, with a bench headed by NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo, took cognisance of the matter, under Section 12 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. Notices went to the state’s Principal Secretary (School Education), the Guna district collector, the Guna district education officer and the school’s missionary management.
A fancy-dress performance by a Class I student at a missionary school in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district has triggered a controversy, with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers demanding a public apology from the school over a skit highlighting unemployment, corruption and other issues while depicting democracy as absent.
ABVP workers visited Christ Senior Secondary School and submitted a memorandum to the principal, setting a 72-hour deadline for an apology. Divyansh Bakshi, an ABVP worker, alleged that children had been deliberately used to play politics and described the performance as reflecting an “urban naxal” mindset. He also demanded an apology from the girl’s parents.
The controversy centres on a fancy-dress competition in which the Class I student appeared with a cloth tied over her mouth and a placard reading, “Unemployment and Corruption: Present, Democracy: Absent.” The performance was titled Sarkar ki Pathshala (Government’s Schoolhouse).
The placard listed 10 entries, marking unemployment, hatred, corruption, terrorism, inflation, poverty, vote theft, paper leaks and scams as “present”, while democracy was marked “absent”. The presentation used the familiar school ritual of roll call to comment on governance and public issues.
