School Students Re-enact Babri Masjid Demolition; RSS leader Booked In Karnataka

Karnataka Police have filed a case against RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat for letting students in his school re-enact the Babri Masjid demolition for an event on Sunday, December 15, 2019. Bhat has been prosecuted earlier for his provocative speeches inciting communal sentiments during the Karnataka Assembly elections. 

This event was attended by Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda. 

Sri Rama Vidyakendra High School, in Kallakada village of Dakshina Karnataka celebrated their annual day with about 3,800+ students participating in the event. The school is run by the Puttur Vivekananda Vidyavarkar Sangamya, a trust which runs various educational trusts. This school is headed by the RSS leader.

A video went viral on social media which showed the students from the school screaming slogans praising Ram and Hanuman while running towards a picture of the Babri Masjid. They then pulled the image of the Masjid down while a narrator continued screaming slogans, encouraging the students to further stamp the image. 

BOOM contacted Bhat, the President of the trust and the school to understand the events of the day. He refused to comment. 

Bhat spoke to The News Minute before he was booked for this activity, justifying his students carrying out the demolition. "It is not a mosque. It is just a building. It is a historical event that we are depicting. We have depicted Jallianwala Bagh as well. Did anyone highlight that? There are hundreds of instances like this and we have to show the injustices that have happened in our country."

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Bhat even suggested that he was proud of his students. 

Bhat along with 3 others have been named in the FIR registered under Sections 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) and 298 (Uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR was filed by Aboobacker Siddique, a PFI activist and resident of Kallakada

Backlash on social media

These videos were shared across social media. Several users voiced their displeasure on using school children to incite hate.