The threat comes after the recent stand-off between the staff and management of St. Joseph Higher Secondary School, Baramulla.
The Catholic Church of Jammu and Kashmir has threatened to shut down its schools in the valley if the state government does not investigate the motives behind the alleged “anti-Christian and anti-religious slogans” by the staff.
The threat comes after the recent stand-off between the staff and management of St. Joseph Higher Secondary School, Baramulla. Trouble started after two teachers were suspended by the management for indiscipline, prompting them to go on strike.
Lateef-uz-Zaman Dewa, the district collector of Baramulla, said, “The issue snowballed when the management suspended two senior teachers after a scuffle with a junior. The staff went on strike accusing the management of favouring a specific party. The management said they could not take action against the other party since he was a complainant. With my intervention, the issue was resolved and all teachers have taken back the pending enquiry,” said Lateef-uz-Zaman Dewa, district collector Baramulla.
However, the matter did not end there. Church representatives took the battle to Omar Abdullah seeking independence, security and non-interference into their affairs. Subsequently, the Catholic Church on Friday issued a paid advertisement in local dailies threatening to close down their schools.
Apart from St Joseph’s, the Church runs several prestigious schools in J&K like Burn Hall School and Presentation Convent School where several separatists and mainstream leaders have studied. Nearly 7,000 students are currently studying in these schools.
“If the government doesn’t create a conducive atmosphere for the Church to run the its schools, we will have to close them down,” said Joseph TK, liaison officer of the Catholic Church.
The Church has also submitted a memorandum to the chief minister demanding security for all its employees and institutions.
“Necessary instructions should be given to the educational, industrial and law enforcing departments and district administration to help the schools’ managements implement the service rules and bylaws. There should be no harassment of the school management in any way,” said the officer. The director of the education department, Shagufta Parveen said the church’s demands would be examined.
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