“Small Matter”: UP Teacher Who Asked Students To Slap Muslim Classmate

New Delhi/:

The Uttar Pradesh teacher who was seen asking students to slap their Muslim classmate in a video, has claimed that the viral clip was distorted.

Denying that her action was communal in nature, Tripta Tyagi said she asked some students to slap him because the boy had not been doing his homework.

“There was pressure from the child’s parents to be strict with him. I am handicapped, so I made some students slap him up so that he would start doing his homework,” she said.

She said the video was edited to give the whole episode a communal angle. “The child’s uncle was sitting in the class. The video was recorded by him which was later distorted,” she said, referring to offensive words she was heard using against a community in the video.

Ms Tyagi also said that it was a “small matter” that has been exaggerated after the video went viral.

“This wasn’t my intention. They all are like my kids and I am accepting my mistake, but this was unnecessarily turned into a big issue”, she said.

“I want to tell politicians that this was a small matter. Leaders, including Rahul Gandhi have tweeted, but it was not such a big thing to tweet about. How will teachers teach if daily issues like these are made viral,” she said.

Aravind Mallappa Bangari, District Magistrate, Muzaffarnagar said that a case has been registered against the teacher

“The parents were initially not agreeing to give a complaint but this morning they gave a complaint to the local police station, and it has been registered . Legal action will be taken in the case,” Mr Bangari said.

Mr Bangari said the child and his parents were counselled by the child welfare committee. “My son is 7-years-old. This incident happened on August 24. The teacher made the students beat my child again and again. My son was tortured for an hour or two. He is scared,” the child’s father said today.

The boy’s father had yesterday said that he will not press charges against the school, but has decided not to send his child to this school anymore.

The video has triggered a massive outrage on social media. Politicians across the party lines also condemned the incident as a hate crime.

“Sowing the poison of discrimination in the minds of innocent children, turning a holy place like a school into a market place of hatred – there is nothing worse a teacher can do for the country,” Rahul Gandhi said on microblogging site X.

“Where there is talk of technology to go to the moon or things that build a boundary wall of hatred. The choice is clear. Hate is the biggest enemy of progress,” Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.

BSP MP Danish Ali also condemned the incident.

The viral video goes on to show children taking turns to slap the Muslim student, who was seen in tears.

The child rights body had yesterday said that it has also ordered for action to be taken against the teacher.