Kanpur: Parents Object to Islamic Prayer During School Assembly, Director Booked

Following complaints, school authorities said that they will stop conducting prayers and recite the national anthem.

Parents objected to recitation of Islamic prayers during morning assemblies at a school in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur on Monday, 1 August.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint) 

Parents of students of a school in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, on Monday, 1 August, objected to the recitation of Islamic prayers during morning assembly at the school, leading to the school administration ceasing the recitation of the all prayers.

The director of the school was subsequently booked under charges of 'outraging religious feelings.'

The school authorities said that they recite prayers of four religions – Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Christianity – during the morning assembly, a practice that has been in place since the school’s establishment in 2003.

School principal Archana said, “We don’t just perform Muslim prayers, we have all four prayers. Since our school started, we are doing the same thing.”

“Parents have now objected, and for that we have taken action.”

Calling the move a “solution,” Archana said, “ With immediate effect, all four of those prayers have been stopped, and now, we will recite the national anthem.”

“A religious dispute would take place if we were following just one religion, or two religions. But we are following all four religions equally.”

In the latest development, the director of the school was booked under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 5(1) of Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2021.

The principal, earlier, added that a religious dispute would have occurred if they were only following just one religion, or between two religions, but said that such an incident has not occurred yet because the school “follows all religions equally.”

Meanwhile, Kanpur city Additional District Magistrate Atul Kumar said, “Some things came to light in connection to reciting prayers. School authorities closed the school today and parents are coming to pick up their children.”