Owaisi condemns arrest of school headmistress, student’s mother

Team Udayavani, Feb 2, 2020, 2:21 PM IST

Bidar: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday condemned the arrest of a school headmistress and a student’s mother in Karnataka for alleged involvementin staging a drama at the institution, portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi in poor light over the CAA and NRC.

A sedition case has been slapped against the school in the matter, and Owaisi, who met the arrested women at Bidar, objected to the charge being filed in connection with a play.

“Earlier today, AIMIM MLA Kausar Mohiuddin, corporator Aziz sb., Yamin Khan & I met with arrested headmistress Fareeda Begum & students mother Najamunnisa in Bidar.

In a condemnable incident, they were arrested by Bidar police for sedition in connection with a school play,” he tweeted.

The headmistress was unwell and the child was now being looked after by the landlord of the house as the childs mother is a widow, he said.

Owaisi also said he met the SP of Bidar and objected to the arrests and slapping of sedition charge for staging a school play.

The AIMIM chief claimed that the SP told him that the matter was under investigation and the sedition charge maybe removed.

“I said this should have been done before arresting these women as they are local residents,how can a school play be a crime?” Owaisi said.

The police action came after they questioned the two women, a few staff members of the Shaheen School in the district headquarters town of Bidar and students on Thursday.

The arrested women were produced before a court which remanded them to judicial custody, police said on Friday.

The drama was staged by students of fourth, fifth and sixth standard on January 21.

A sedition case was booked by police on January 26 against the school, along with some other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on January 26, based on a complaint from social worker Neelesh Rakshyal.

The complainant has alleged the school authorities ‘used’ the students to perform a drama where they “abused” Modi in the context of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The play, uploaded on social media, had gone viral.