Rajasthan: Controversy related to worship of Goddess Saraswati in government school in Baran, investigation incomplete even after 11 days?
The variation in the statements of officials regarding the formation of a departmental committee to investigate this matter raises questions on the impartiality of the investigation.
Published on: 06 Feb 2024
Jaipur. Even after 11 days of the incident, the police have not come to any conclusion in the case registered mutually in the police station after a dispute between the female teacher and the villagers regarding the worship of Saraswati Devi in the function organized on Republic Day in the Government Higher Primary School Lakdai in Baran district of Rajasthan. Has arrived.
On the other hand, the inquiry committee constituted by the Education Department in this matter has also not yet submitted the report to the higher authorities. There is resentment among social organizations regarding the delay in investigation. Teachers Bhupendra Sain, Hansraj Sain and female teacher Hemlata Bairwa, who were sent on leave by the department after the controversy, are serving together again in the same school after three days. Regular classes are being conducted in the school.
At the same time, the difference in the statements of the officers regarding the formation of a departmental committee to investigate this matter raises questions on the impartiality of the investigation.
What was the dispute?
On Republic Day, on January 26, in a function organized at the Government Higher Primary School Lakdai campus in Baran district, first the school staff and later the women, carrying the picture of Saraswati Devi with Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and social worker Savitri Bai Phule. There was a dispute between the teacher and the villagers. During the ceremony, some villagers put up a picture of Goddess Saraswati and put pressure on her to do the puja.
On this, female teacher Hemlata Bairwa, asking what is the contribution of Saraswati in education, refused to worship and put up the picture of Goddess Saraswati in the government school. There was a heated debate between the female teacher and the villagers regarding this matter. A video of this also went viral on social media.
On the other hand, seeing the seriousness of the matter, Nahargarh police station also reached the spot on the information of teachers. Where after the agreement, the program was started by placing the picture of Saraswati Devi along with other great men on the stage of the ceremony. Two teachers have also been accused of leaving the program during the controversy.
Police did not impose necessary sections
The next day of the incident, on January 27, female teacher Hemlata Bairwa had filed an FIR in Nahargarh police station against school teachers Bhupendra Sain and Hansraj Sain and others, naming villagers Hansraj Nagar, Radheshyam Nagar and Kishan Nagar. In the complaint submitted to the police, the female teacher had accused the teacher of disrupting the Republic Day celebrations and pressurizing her to worship Goddess Saraswati and using caste-related words and threatening her if she refused. On this, the police registered an FIR under sections 506, 504 of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Caste and Tribe Act and handed over the investigation to Shahbad Deputy Superintendent of Police Hemant Gautam.
Police accused of not including necessary sections in the case
The villagers, who were accused on behalf of the female teacher in this matter, had also lodged an FIR against the female teacher for hurting religious sentiments. After this, various social organizations demonstrated at Baran district headquarters, questioning the intentions of the local police station and submitted a memorandum to the district collector, accusing them of not adding necessary sections that create obstruction in government work in the case filed by the female teacher. Was.
Bhim Army District President Piyush Regar said that he informed the higher officials through a memorandum that on January 26, during the national festival Republic Day celebrations, some people forced a female teacher to worship Saraswati. When they refused, caste based words were used and they were threatened for unconstitutional work. The police did not add the section of creating obstruction in the national festival in the FIR lodged by the female teacher. In such a situation, clauses regarding obstruction in government work should be added.
On the question of police not including the sections of creating obstruction in government work in the case, Nahargarh police station officer Devkaran Choudhary told ‘The Mooknayak’ that Republic Day celebrations are not government work. This is the work of the common people. Everyone participates in this. Therefore, sections that create obstruction in government work have not been included. Still, if such a thing comes up in the research, sections will be added.
Demand for dismissal of female teacher
Regarding this issue, Samata Andolan Committee Rajasthan State President Parashar Narayan Sharma wrote a letter to the Governor on February 1, demanding dismissal from service after investigation of Hemlata Bairwa, a female teacher who refused to worship Saraswati in a government school in Baran district. Is of. Opposing the demand of dismissal action against Dalit female teacher by the Samata Andolan Committee, Supreme Court advocate Chetan Bairwa has raised the question as to who should be considered the goddess of education. Advocate Bairwa said that Savitri Bai Phule and Fatima Shaikh have contributed in education. She has struggled for women’s education in the country. Photographs of these social worker women along with their biographies should be displayed in government schools. The demand for dismissal of the female teacher is unfair.
Presently regular studies are going on
Teacher Bhupendra Sain, who was named as an accused in the case filed by female teacher Hemlata Bairwa in the Saraswati Puja controversy, told The Mooknayak that till now no action has been taken in this matter. Police officers had come to take statements, they have taken our statements. Statements of female teachers and staff have also been taken. There was no previous dispute between us. At the function, along with the villagers, our names have also been registered in the case. We just said that keep Saraswati’s photo also, nothing more was said. After the incident we were sent on leave for three days. Presently we are teaching in this school. Now what will happen next will be known only in the court, at present regular studies are going on.
Inquiry committee report not received
In the Saraswati Puja controversy, District Education Officer Piyush Kumar Sharma told ‘The Mooknayak’ that after the incident, a three-member inquiry committee was constituted by the Block Chief Education Officer, but till now the committee has not given the inquiry report. Whatever happens in the investigation, action will be taken as per rules.
investigation underway
Shahbad Deputy Superintendent of Police Hemant Gautam, who is investigating the cases registered after the controversy over the worship of Saraswati Devi in Government Higher Primary School, Lakdai on Republic Day, told ‘The Mooknayak’ that the investigation is still going on. Statements of some people have been taken, this is a serious matter. It is being investigated impartially. Something can be said in this matter only after investigation.
