RAISEN, 9 AUG

A controversy has emerged in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district after the principal of Baby Convent School allegedly distributed Hindi alphabet charts containing Islamic references. The charts reportedly featured 'Ka' for Kaba, 'Ma' for Masjid, and 'Na' for Namaz, prompting immediate action from the education department, which has launched an inquiry into the matter.

Following the incident, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad staged protests on Friday and surrounded Principal IA Qureshi's office. Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Pratibha Sharma confirmed that police were deployed to manage the situation, stating that the matter is related to the education department and referred to the district education officer (DEO).

DEO DD Rajak remarked, "An investigation is being conducted into the allegations. As per the Education department's guidelines, study material containing religious symbols of any particular faith cannot be taught in schools."

Principal Qureshi acknowledged her "inadvertent" mistake, explaining that one or two books with mixed Urdu-Hindi multiplication tables had been distributed to students. She clarified that the alphabet charts were sourced from Bhopal and claimed that three to four items, generally used in madrasas, had been mistakenly included due to a seller's error.