Three teachers in a government-run school in the Mewat area of Haryana have been punished for forcing the only two Hindu boys in the school to offer namaz along with the rest of the students.
The incident took place at Mewat Model School in Madhi village, with the children complaining to their parents on July 22. The action against the teachers came about a week later.
The school — one of the many that are run by the Mewat Development Agency (MDA) — has 207 students, of which only two are Hindus.
The boys are also cousins, and while one is in class 7, the other is in class 9.
They complained to their parents on July 22 that they were forced to offer namaz in school by their computer science teacher, Urdu teacher and social science teacher, the last of whom is also the hostel warden.
"Other students in the school have said that the three teachers would ask the two Hindu students to abide by Islamic norms and offer namaz," teacher in-charge Naveen Shakti was quoted as saying in a Times of India report.
"The teachers also often asked the two Hindu students to convert to Islam," she added.
Following the students' complaint, a three-member panel headed by District Education Officer Dinesh Shastri was set up by Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma to probe the allegations.
Others members of the committee are tehsildar Basti Ram and MDA project officer Shamim Ahmad.
Ahmad has been quoted by the TOI report as saying: "As per the complaints of the parents, action has been taken against the teachers. The truth will come out after the final probe report."
The action Ahmad was talking of has seen the computer science and the Urdu teacher getting suspended from duty for their actions, while the hostel warden has been transferred to a different school.
