Karnataka School Sedition Case: Bidar Cops Question Minor Students For Fifth Time

The police in Karnataka continued their crackdown on minor children of the Shaheen Primary School in Bidar by questioning them for the fifth time in connection with a play against the Citizenship Amendment Act. 

The News Minute reports that the police visited the school for a fifth time on Tuesday. 

Reports had said that the children had been questioned on Monday as well for a play that was staged on January 21. The headmistress of the school and a parent of a student were arrested after an FIR was registered against the school and its authorities, reportedly by an ABVP member. 

A sedition case was slapped on the school authorities. 

This comes even as another school in Karnataka — Sri Rama Vidya Kendra in Kalladka Village near Mangalore — had recreated the Babri Masjid demolition, but no action was taken against the school authorities who are members of the RSS. 

RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat and other members Narayan Somayyaji, Vasanth Madhav and Chinnappa Kotiyan had been booked for the event where Puducherry governor Kiran Bedi was a chief guest. 

The News Minute spoke to Professor Rajendra, a member of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties, who said that action by the Karnataka police was racial profiling of the minor students of the Shaheen School. 

“This is clearly profiling on religious grounds. Just because the school is run by members of the Muslim community, a sedition case has been slapped against them. The police did not question the children in the Dakshina Kannada school case, as should be. Children are not to be subjected to such interrogation as it can have a huge impact on their mental health. Questioning school management is different from subjecting small children to interrogation and intimidation,” Professor Rajendra said.  

BJP ruled states have seen a violent crackdown against anti-CAA protesters, that have not even spared children. 

READ — CAA: UP Police Totally Communalised, Tortured Me, Says Activist Sadaf Jafar

Mangalore saw the death of two people during the anti-CAA protests, who the police have now named in their FIRs. 

In Uttar Pradesh activists and protesters, including minors, were picked up by the police and tortured in custody.