Kerala school teacher loses job for marrying outside religion, only to get it back after protests

Sharanya, a school teacher, was asked not to come back for work, following her wedding with Muhammed Haris.

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A private school teacher from Palakkad in Kerala was asked not to come back to school after she married outside her religion. The school authorities however were forced to rescind their decision, following protests.

Sharanya and Muhammed Haris got married on Saturday at the Vaniyamkulam local committee CPI(M) office at Palakkad. Their marriage was celebrated by social media, especially by the state Left’s cyber warriors who made the news of their marital union go viral online.

But when Sharanya -who has been working as a teacher at Al Irshad English Medium School in Thrissur for the past two years- got in touch with the school authorities to ask for a week’s leave, they abruptly asked her not to come back for work.

“She called them to request for a week’s leave. The School Principal simply asked her not to report for duty, citing our marriage as the reason. Their rude behaviour left her utterly dismayed and shocked,” says Haris, while speaking to The News Minute

“They also asked her not to come back to the school even to collect the rest of her salary, as well as her certificates that she had deposited with them. They said they would send these by post,” Haris adds.

Sharanya and Haris were in a relationship for six years before they decided to take it to the next level. But since both their families objected to their conjugal union, they decided to get married with the support of the party.

Haris who works at an Event Management company is also an active DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India -a leftist youth wing) worker. Following strong protests by both the CPI(M) and DYFI workers on Tuesday, the school authorities decided to relent and rescinded their earlier decision to sack Sharanya from the job.

“Their earlier stance reveals what they actually think about our marriage. We are hence yet to take call on whether to continue with the job or not,” remarks Haris.