‘Offencive’ poem sparks row: UP teacher questions kanwar yatra; booked for promoting enmity | Meerut News
BAREILLY: A govt school teacher in UP’s Bareilly was slapped with a case on Tuesday for “promoting enmity” after he was seen in a video purportedly reciting an “objectionable poem referring to kanwar yatra” in front of students during their assembly prayer. In the clip, he could be heard saying, “Light the lamp of knowledge instead of going on kanwar yatra”.Police said an FIR was registered against teacher Rajneesh Gangwar under BNS section 353-2 (public mischief with intent to promote enmity, hatred or ill-will between different groups) following a complaint by a local right-wing activist Shakti Gupta. In the police complaint, Gupta accused Gangwar of “hurting religious sentiments by reciting an objectionable verse from a poem to students at Bareilly’s MGM Inter College”.Baheri circle officer Arun Kumar said, “The teacher has not been arrested yet as the section imposed against him has a punishment of three years in jail. Police, as per the norms, can’t arrest anyone accused of an offence that provides for seven or fewer years of imprisonment. Investigation is on and further action will be taken accordingly.”In the 26-second clip, part of a five-minute video, the teacher — after making a purported remark on the yatra — could be heard urging the students to “serve humanity and become true humans…” The video was widely circulated online, with many calling it “disrespectful towards a religious tradition”.
“During a school activity, I read a poem to students. There was nothing wrong with it. For some time now, there has been a conspiracy against me within the school. About a year-and-a-half ago, there was an attempt to file an FIR against me, accusing me of assaulting students. When nothing was found then, a 26-second clip was improperly edited now to create a false narrative against me,” the accused teacher told TOI on Tuesday.Meanwhile, school principal Ashok Kumar Gangwar said the teacher read the poem on Saturday, and a “clarification has been sought from him”.The ongoing kanwar yatra is scheduled to conclude on July 23.
