• Home
• /
• World

Protests mount over Kerala school headmistress’ transfer

Devi, who was transferred for criticising the late arrival of Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb at a function in the school on June 16, has already met the chief minister and expressed regret over the incidents that offended the minister. Devi, who is a heart patient, urged the government to allow her to continue at the school in the state capital so that she can get access to proper treatment.

After the meeting with Chandy, Devi said she was hopeful that the government would view her request compassionately.

Indications are that the government may withdraw the order. The chief minister has already started consultations with the education minister and the Indian Union Muslim League, to which the minister belongs. The chief minister, who stood firmly behind the Education Minister earlier, relented after the opposition Left Democratic Front continued their protests inside and outside the Assembly for the third consecutive day on Friday.

Terming the action inhuman, the opposition boycotted the assembly proceedings on Friday. Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan said that the government should have considered Devi as a woman belonging to a backward community and taken into account her health condition while shunting her out to a school in the rural area.

He said that the opposition will not allow the government to carry out the proceedings in the assembly if it did not withdraw the transfer.

He said that the leaders of various parties in the assembly will meet and decide the future course of action on Monday. The government also faced heat from the student bodies, which held protests outside the Assembly.

The Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) said they will continue their protests till the order is revoked. Various teachers’ bodies also came out openly against the action. The pro-CPM Kerala State Teachers Association (KSTA) staged a sit-in outside the Directorate of Public Instruction, asking the government to revoke its decision.

The action also came in for sharp criticism in the social media. Netizens viewed the transfer of the headmistress for stressing the need for promptness as a ‘bad lesson’ for the students.

news@khaleejtimes.com