Muzaffarnagar school video: Teacher Tripti Tyagi says, ’Not ashamed…important to control kids’

Muzaffarnagar school teacher Tripti Tyagi, who is accused of making communal comments and ordering her students to slap a Muslim classmate for not doing his homework, has told a news channel she is not ashamed.

In an interview with NDTV, Tyagi said, she has served the people of the village as a teacher and added, it is important to "control" kids at school.

"I am not ashamed. I have served the people of this village as a teacher. They all are with me," the channel quoted Tyagi who is a principal of Neha Public School.

The teacher added, "They have made laws, but we need to control the children in schools. This is how we tackle them".

Also read: Muzzafarnagar school incident: Child says 'was slapped for over an hour because...'

Earlier Tyagi acknowledged her mistake and had told media, " This wasn't my intention. I am accepting my mistake, but this was unnecessarily turned into a big issue".

Tyagi said though it was wrong on her part to get a student slapped by his classmates, she was forced to do it as she is handicapped and was not able to stand up and reach the student who had not done his assignment.

FIR against teacher

The Muslim boy, who was severely beaten by classmates, his family has filed an FIR against teacher Tyagi. The police have registered a complaint of the boy's family under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) -- both non-cognisable offences. Such offences are bailable and do not lead to immediate arrest, and require a warrant.

Boy's family statement

According to NDTV's new report, the father of the victim said, "My nephew made the video, he had gone to school for some work... My seven-year-old was tortured for an hour or two. He is scared. This is not a Hindu-Muslim issue. We want the law to take its own course," and added, "My son is traumatised and shocked".

Notice served to school

Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) of Muzaffarnagar Shubham Shukla said a show cause notice has been served to the school management through the secretary of the management committee.

It has been asked to furnish its response by August 28 as to why the school's government recognition not be cancelled.

Politics on the boil

Opposition political parties have slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the outrageous video. They alleged that the BJP's "politics of hatred" was responsible for the Uttar Pradesh incident.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had on Friday in a post on X condemned the incident saying a teacher could do no worse for the country as he accused the BJP of filling people's minds with poison.

"Sowing the poison of discrimination in the minds of innocent children, turning a holy place like school into a marketplace of hatred -- nothing worse a teacher can do for the country.

"This is the same kerosene spread by the BJP which has set every corner of India on fire. Children are the future of India – we all have to teach them love not hatred," he said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the BJP for its "divisive thinking" and said, "such incidents tarnish our global image."

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in a post demanded the teacher be sacked immediately, and called her a "blot on teacher society."

Pilibhit BJP MP Varun Gandhi in a post on X said the incident was shameful.

"The feeling of hatred towards a child in the temple of knowledge has made the whole country hang its head in shame. A teacher is a gardener who not only builds a personality but also a nation by putting fertiliser in the form of knowledge in the primary rites.

"So the expectations from a teacher are high beyond dirty politics. It is a question of the future of the country," he said.