Burhanpur (MP), Oct 29 (PTI) Authorities in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur district have suspended a government school teacher for “misconduct” following allegations that he was making students offer namaz under the pretext of practising yoga, officials said on Wednesday.
The suspended teacher, Jaboor Ahmed Tadvi, however, categorically denied the allegations and demanded an impartial investigation into the charges against him.
Some right-wing activists and parents of students alleged that Tadvi, who is a teacher at the government secondary school in Devhari village, about 15 kms from the district headquarters, makes students of grades 3 to 5 offer namaz under the pretext of yoga and Surya Namaskar.
District Education Officer Santosh Singh Solanki said that Tadvi was suspended on the charges of misconduct after an investigation was carried out based on a complaint from some parents and discussions with students.
Tadvi, however, dubbed the allegations against him as “completely baseless”.
“As per the fixed timetable, our school has a yoga class every day from 10.30 am to 11 am. I make the children practise yoga postures in this class based on a book on Surya Namaskar,” he said.
Due to some misunderstanding, what the complainant is describing as students offering namaz is actually the yoga posture of “Shashankasana,” in which the practitioner sits on the ground like a rabbit and bends with their hands extended forward, Tadvi added.
“An impartial investigation should be conducted into the allegations made against me,” he demanded.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pardeshi, district coordinator of the Hindu Jagran Manch, said that he has filed a complaint against Tadvi with the administration, demanding his dismissal and strict legal action against him.
According to Pardeshi, the primary school teacher was attempting to convert students to Islam by making them pray under the pretext of doing yoga and Surya Namaskar.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)