School staff, parents approach Edu Minister after Home Ministry bans Islamic Research Foundation and freezes its bank accounts
A group of parents, teachers and staff of the Islamic International School (IIS), which was run by controversial televangelist Zakir Naik, approached State Education Minister Vinod Tawde on Tuesday demanding that the school management remain unchanged.
The meeting comes days after authorities froze the school’s bank accounts after the Home Ministry banned Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and declared it an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The National Investigation Agency filed an FIR against Naik and others for promoting enmity between religious groups.
According to a statement issued by a spokesperson for IIS, students’ parents have spoken out against the school’s bank accounts getting frozen. A letter signed by parents, teachers and the school principal, was handed over to Tawde and circulated to the media, said the school has helped students achieve academic excellence.
“By changing the school’s management, or handing it over to another body, will strip it of its basic essence. The school will not only lose its identity and purpose, there is a high chance that parents will no longer see it as the place they originally envisioned for their children.
The esteemed education institution will die an unnatural death. This would probably be the first time in modern India that an educational institution would be shut down in an undemocratic manner,” the letter stated.
“We, the parents and teaching staff of Islamic International School, strongly oppose change of ownership and/or management as being implied by recent media reports. We choose to remain with the current management and any attempts to change the ownership of the school is totally unwelcome,” the letter said.
A press statement from IIS said Tawde assured them that the school will not shut down before the end of the current academic year. It also claims that if the Union Government does not seal the school premises, the state does not have any plans of a takeover. On the ownership, Tawde asked the parents, principal and staff to approach the Home Minister or the court to re solve the matter.
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