In classroom hate speech, govt teacher derides Muslim students

The Delhi government's flagship "Deshbhakti" curriculum, meant to promote feelings of unity and national integration, has been hailed as a progressive step in the Capital's school system.

- Hemani Bhandari

And yet, 33-year-old Hema Gulati, who taught the Deshbhakti curriculum in a Delhi government school in Kailash Nagar is in the eye of the storm after unleashing on a hateful rant against Muslims and Islam in front of a class of 52 students of various faiths.

Gulati was booked on Monday under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class) and 298 (deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), among other relevant sections of IPC based on the complaint by a 13-year-old Muslim student in the class.

She has, however, not been arrested yet, said police, adding that she "joined the investigation" on Tuesday.

The Delhi government said they have set up a panel to address the matter and will issue anti-discrimination guidelines to all their teachers and principals.

The incident comes days after a teacher at a private school in Muzaffarnagar encouraged some students to slap a classmate while declaring that Muslim children whose parents do not pay attention to their education should be taught a lesson.