Curious Case Of 2 Plays: School Play Against CAA Is Sedition, One Showing Babri Demolition Not

The Karnataka Police has come under heavy criticism for what many says was 'excessive action' after the principal and parent of school students were arrested on charges of sedition for staging an anti-CAA play in the school.

On Thursday, Fareeda Begum, the in-charge of the Shaheen Group of Institutions, a school in Bidar's primary section and the mother of a Class VI student, were arrested by the police after they were booked under sedition for allegedly insulting PM Narendra Modi.

According to reports, the play, which criticized the CAA was staged by the student in the school on January 21 and had a dialogue insulting the PM. The case was filed on Monday by some right wing activists after the videos of it went viral on social media.

Nilesh Rakshala, an activist of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad who made the complaint said children are being used to spread propaganda against CAA, NRC and insult the PM.

¡°The management tried to create ¡®fear¡¯ among the Muslims that they would have to leave the country if the CAA and NRC [National Register of Citizens] are implemented,¡± Rakshala said in his complaint.

After the complaint, an image had gone viral, where three policemen, two of whom were in uniform and one in plain clothes, were seen questioning the students who were part of the play.

Fareeda Begum and Nazbunnisa were booked under Sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes), 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting, attempting to promote disharmony) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code.

In Karnataka India, Muslim schoolchildren in 4th & 5th grade are being interrogated by the police because the school staged a play that opposed the citizenship act. Sedition charges filed. Does the @UNHumanRights know? Are @StateDept @USCIRF @FoRB_EuroParl & @eu_eeas aware? pic.twitter.com/IRjclWUb9b

¡ª Yeh Log ! (@yehlog) January 28, 2020

The arrest of the school teacher and parent is in sharp contrast to what the Karnataka Police did just a month back when students of a school in Dakshina Kannada district reenactment of the Babri mosque demolition on its annual sports day.

Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilisers D V Sadananda Gowda were among the dignitaries who attended the event. Kiran Bedi had even tweeted about the show and praised the students' performance. She said they should get a chance to showcase their talent at the republic day celebrations in New Delhi.

Another one the school children made was of the proposed Shri Ram Mandir at #Ayodhya. All such formations enabled the school ensure all of its 3800+ Students participate in the annual festival of the school, Sri Rama Vidya Kendra, Kalladka Village, near Mangalore. @PTI_News @ANI pic.twitter.com/JEZLCdUTfd

¡ª Kiran Bedi (@thekiranbedi) December 16, 2019

Though a case was registered against RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat and four others who run the Sri Rama Vidya Kendra in Kalladka under sections 295(A) and 298 (hurting religious sentiments) of the IPC no arrests have been made in the case so far.