The principal of a private school in Gujarat’s Mundra was suspended on Friday after a purported video of a student’s skit on Eid was widely shared on social media by right-wing groups. The video showed students wearing skullcaps and praying.
Priti Vaswani, Principal of Pearl School of Excellence and Value Education in Mangra village was suspended by the school administration. District Primary Education Officer Sanjay Parmar told The Indian Express that it was a “heen krutya (lowly act)” to “ask Hindu students to wear skullcaps worn by Muslims”.
The district development officer (DDO) of Kutch told reporters in Bhuj the school owner was contacted, and instructed to suspend the principal.
The video showed them offering prayers, and exchanging greetings as one of them talked about the festival.
Responding to the outrage, Vaswani said she was tendering an apology if the “Eid celebration-related activity” in the school that was conducted on Wednesday.
In a video statement, shared on social media, Vaswani said,” It was not our intention at all to hurt or harm anyone. We had done it merely for the festival. Nonetheless, if anyone has been inconvenienced or their feelings have been hurt, I apologise for that and say sorry and assure you that from now on, no activity or competition shall be organised to hurt the feelings of any organisation or parents.”
