Officials close Mysuru girls school, protests erupt

NT Correspondent

Mysuru

Students and staff of Farooqia Girls High School in Mysuru staged a protest in front of the institution, which had been sealed off by authori- ties, citing expiration of lease.

More than 400 students and their teachers face an uncertain future as a result of the closure. Members of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), apart from some Congress corpora- tors were joined by local rights groups and women’s organisations in the dem- onstrations in front of the school, which was guarded by scores of policemen.

The school, among other educational institutions in the city, 17 in all, comes un- der Rifa Ul Muslimeen Trust (RUMT). Nabeel Khan, a member and superinten- dent of the trust claimed the closure was contempt of court and added that the is- sue could be traced back to 1992, when the school was granted a lease of 50 years. Khan said that in 1994, the lease was challenged by a local BJP MLA by way of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Karnataka High Court, which decided in 2008, that the State government should decide to either continue the lease or terminate it.

Nabeel Khan said that successive governments had decided to not do any- thing until authorities be- gan threatening closure in April this year. “Almost af- ter 14 years, the DDPI (Deputy Director of Public In- structions) and BEO (Block Education Officer) North came to the institution and gave a verbal threat to close the school, claiming it was running illegally.

The management intervened and asked them for a notice for which they were reluctant” he said. “The management de- cided to go to the court. On the 30th of June, the court passed an injunc- tion against them but they violated the court order.

On Saturday, which was a half day, they found nobody in the school in the afternoon and got the police force and locked the school,” he alleged adding, “We informed the students to come to the school on Monday, so that we can protest.” Another hearing of the case is due on Tuesday.