Goa Principal Suspended After Taking Students On School Trip To Mosque

The students of Keshav Smurthi Higher Secondary School were invited to the mosque by the Students Islamic Organisation or SIO on Saturday. The invite was part of an initiative to promote communal harmony.

The principal of a private school in Goa's Vasco was suspended by the school board after a group of students were taken to a mosque and asked to perform religious rituals. The students of Keshav Smurthi Higher Secondary School were invited to the mosque by the Students Islamic Organisation or SIO on Saturday. The invite was part of an initiative to promote communal harmony.Once there, the girls in the group "-- all students of Class XI -- were seen with their uniform dupatta on their heads. The boys were seen performing "Wazu", a ritual washing of ones face, hands, arms and feet, before entering the mosque.

After photographs of the girls in scarves went viral on social media, agitated parents staged a protest in front of the school on Monday. They were accompanied by members of various right-wing groups including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.  

"The act of the Islamic organisation was highly condemnable, shameful and would not be tolerated. This could be a practice of 'school jihad'. The Hindu community and VHP will never allow these types of practices," said Sanju Korgaonkar, VHP's South Goa joint secretary and Mormugao taluka secretary.