SHILLONG: Vinay Joshi, the convener of Legal Rights Observatory, has shot off a complaint to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) against two schools for forcing their students to take part in street protests to oppose the funeral of the head of an indigenous faith, Kulam Nongrum, at Mylliem on August 11.
In his complaint to inquiry officer I Majaw, Joshi said the two schools are Hermon Zenith Secondary School and Sunny Hills Adventist Secondary School, both in Mylliem. He added that photographs published in a vernacular newspaper on August 12 showed students holding placards.
Joshi said forcing students into religious/political agitations is a heinous act and it is a punishable offence and the school authorities also deprived them of the Right to Education.
He urged NCPCR and the state government to register an FIR against headmasters and management of both the schools under the Juvenile Justice Act.
Joshi also said that separate FIRs should be lodged against the headmasters for creating animosity between Niam Khasi believers and Christians by forcing their children into protests. He also demanded that a departmental inquiry be initiated and punitive action against the district inspector be taken for failing to act against the schools. He stated that circulars should be issued to Christian Church bodies to prevent religious radicalisation on their campuses and launch awareness on the Juvenile Justice Act. Joshi said he would take the matter to a competent legal authority against the people involved in religious radicalisation of students if no action is taken against the guilty.
