‘We’ll Force St Thomas School to Teach Bhagavad Gita’-SRS
Mangaluru: Tit-for-Tat! Following close on its heels after the management of St Thomas Aided Higher Primary school in Bondanthil had a press meet yesterday at the Mangalore Press Club to clarify against the allegations made by the activists of Sri Rama Sene (SRS) against the school, in response to that members of SRS held a press meet today to clarify against the allegations made on them by the school management, and also for lodging a complaint and arresting SRS members.
Addressing the media persons at Mangalore Press Club, Mahesh Kumar Koppa-State President of SRS said, ” The allegations made against us by the school management of St Thomas Aided Higher Primary school are baseless and false. We never indulged in any attacks at the school, nor did we barge into the classrooms. It was the headmaster who escorted into the classrooms. We also never grabbed any books from the hands of the children, as stated by the school management. We went to the school after a few parents of the children complained to us about Arabic classes being forced on the students. So along with a bunch of parents, we visited the school to sleuth into the issue”
“Being a Catholic school and also being funded by the government it was not right for the school management to introduce the Arabic language without getting approval from the concerned authorities and government. There was no need for the school management to lodge a complaint against us when we had done nothing wrong, and it was not right on the part of the police commissioner ordering the police to arrest few of our members. We know that there are a few political hands behind this activity at the school, and we know there is conversion going on at the school”, added Mahesh.
“In case the school won’t stop teaching the Arabic language, we will intensify our fight and will protest at every Catholic institution and Churches in DK. We will also make sure that the school management teaches Bhagavad Gita, Tulu literature, Ramayana and Mahabharata. When we and some of the parents asked the headmaster to stop teaching Arabic, he agreed, but later we found out that the Arabic language was still taught to the children. What was the necessity to introduce Arabic, when there is so much of terror connected with ISIS going on, and many Indian youths have been recruited to join ISIS? Teaching Arabic at a local school sends the wrong message and will convince the students to adore ISIS. We urge the school management to stop teaching Arabic immediately before we take further action”, added Mahesh.
“By making students learn a language which is not a part of the syllabus, the school has broken the laws for which we ask the CDPO to register a case and also sleuth into the situation. We will urge the government to stop aiding this school, and also do some enquiries, if not we will protest state-wide. India is a democratic country, and we have all the rights to enquire when something isn’t right. Also that we created some ruckus and threatened the staff and kids as stated by the school management is all false and other allegations against us baseless. We urge the police department to release our arrested members, and also demand that all the cases against our members be dropped”, said Mahesh Kumar.
Raising his voice and in a high-pitched tone, State chief secretary of SRS Praveen Valke said, “The false case filed against our members need to be dropped soon. There was no need to teach Arabic by a Catholic school when we see around that many girls are getting converted. You don’t need Arabic to get jobs, our youths are in good jobs without learning Arabic. Also getting a cleric from a mosque to teach Arabic is condemned by SRS. This teaching of Arabic at this school is nothing but to promote conversion. At this moment we urge the law enforcement department to do a thorough inquiry and also that school should stop teaching Arabic, even if they have been told by the police commissioner to continue further. If no action is taken, we will protest in front of all the churches in the district”.
Praveen Valke, Guru Pandeshwar, Harish Shetty Bokkapatna and Venkatesh Padiyar-the members of SRS were also present during the meet.
Also Read Related Articles Below:
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SRS demands to withdraw cases filed in Bondanthila St Thomas School
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‘We Never Forced Kids To Learn Arabic’- Headmaster Braggs
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St Thomas School has Done Way More than Teach Arabic
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AAP condemns attack by SRS on St Thomas School
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SRS activists barge into St Thomas School over Arabic classes
Teaching Arabic language is not as same as teaching religious books. Arabic is a language while Bhagavad geeta is a religious book. These geniuses don’t know what they are talking about. As far as I know, schools have all the rights to teach Arabic language if it is optional to students. Opposing Arabic language simply because it is widely spoken by Muslims is pure bigotry. This is similar to religious bigotry shown by Muslim and Catholic groups when they oppose Yoga and Samskrutam. True secular, rational people will reject all types of bigotry!!
Intellectually, these members of the Shree Rama Sene are no different from the rabbple rousers that one comes across in Pakistan and these sort of people are barriers and impediments for progress in this 21st century. I wonder if any of these six members shown in the photos have travelled abroad and seen the progress the countries have achieved and how people live? They may have travelled to some places in Dakhina Kannada or in Karnataka, doing goondagiri and if they manage to extract money by force or through illegal activities, then they are happy to have chicken tikka or… Read more »