The headmaster of a school in Bengal's sensitive Murshidabad district allegedly thrashed four students for uttering “Jai Shri Ram" and sporting sacred wrist gears. The attack was so violent that one of the students, Shovan Mandal, has yet to recover and be released from the Murshidabad Medical College to which he was admitted after the incident.

Trouble began on Friday at Murshidabad's Kumar Mahimchandra Institute when Shovan uttered the three words that sparked off tension in the school premises. He was soon joined by Anirudhha, Bikram and Somnath. A small scuffle broke out among some students. The matter should have ended there, but when the scuffle was reported to the Headmaster of the school, he decided to mete out corporal punishment to the three students.

In the words of Mandal, who right now is admitted in a hospital, “Sir beat me up so hard that a tree branch broke in the process. Even when I was being given first aid, he continued to beat me up.”

The incident gains significance because of the religion of the accused, Afiqul Alam. He allegedly warned the victims not to sport tilak or any sacred thread while in the school.

Interestingly, Murshidabad is a Muslim-dominated district where the community constitutes 66.28% of the population. Allegations of religious discrimination and intolerance have been quite rampant in Bengal, but the brutality of this incident has surpassed that in many instances of the kind.

Even though a complaint has been filed against the headmaster, the cops have not arrested the accused, Afiqul Alam.

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