Protest at Kotkapura school over Indira Gandhi debate; teacher apologises

Bathinda: A group of about 25 people protested outside a private school in Faridkot district's Kotkapura town on Tuesday, forcing a teacher to apologise over a debate she had with a Class VIII student over former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.Faridkot MP Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, whose father Beant Singh was one of the two assassins of the former PM, was among the protesters. When contacted, school managing committee chairman Pawan Mittal said the protest stemmed from a lesson about brave women. The teacher talked about astronaut Kalpana Chawla, Rani Jhansi and others. "When the teacher mentioned Indira Gandhi and stated she was the first woman Prime Minister who respected all religions, a student objected, saying that Indira was not secular as she ordered the storming of the Golden Temple. The teacher objected to the words by the student and asked him to remain within the ambit of the syllabus," said Mittal. Though the group claimed that the teacher slapped the student, the school claimed that she had only tapped the shoulder of the student to ask him to sit down. "She had asked the student not to create indiscipline and just touched the shoulder. She had no intention to hurt anyone. When certain organisations raised the issue today, she apologised and the matter has been closed," added Mittal.Waris Punjab De Faridkot district president Daler Singh Doad also reached the school. He called the teacher's behaviour "intolerable".