A private school in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, held separate annual functions for Muslim and non-Muslim students and allegedly segregated pupils by religion in classrooms, Maktoob Media reported.
The report by the news portal said the International School of Bombay, located in the Muslim-majority locality of Khajrana, conducted two annual day events on consecutive days earlier this month — one attended largely by Muslim students and parents, and another by non-Muslims, mostly Hindus.
Citing parents and a teacher, Maktoob Media reported that some classes were divided into “M” sections comprising Muslim students. A teacher at the school, Poonam Tiwari, told reporters posing as prospective parents that she handled “M” sections of Classes 6 and 7, the report said.
According to Maktoob Media, parents alleged disparities between the two annual functions, including differences in duration, coordination and the presence of a chief guest. One parent, identified as Nighat, was quoted as saying Muslim students were asked to prepare performances largely on their own and that their event lasted about two hours, compared with three to four hours for the other function.
Some parents also alleged that in previous years Muslim surnames were omitted from academic scoreboards, the report said.
Another parent, described as non-Muslim, told the publication that the issue “should not be made an issue”, saying the arrangements may have been made in view of the Muslim festival of Shab-e-Barat.
The portal reported that a local Congress corporator, Rubina Khan, had visited the school and said she would raise the matter with Chief Minister Mohan Yadav if concerns were not addressed. No police complaint or legal case had been filed at the time of publication, the report said.