MP school faces row over hindi alphabet chart Islamic links

A controversy has erupted in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district after the principal of a private convent school allegedly distributed Hindi alphabet charts with Islamic references to students, prompting the state education department to launch an investigation, officials said on Saturday.
According to officials, Baby Convent School principal I.A. Qureshi is accused of providing learning charts that cited examples such as “Ka” for Kaba, “Ma” for Masjid, and “Na” for Namaz. The material allegedly reached students earlier this week.Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest on Friday, demanding action against the principal and gheraoing her at the school premises. The situation was brought under control by police personnel.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Pratibha Sharma confirmed that the matter was handed over to the district education authorities. “The issue is related to the education department and has been referred to the District Education Officer (DEO),” Sharma said.DEO D.D. Rajak stated that the inquiry is underway. “As per the education department’s guidelines, study material containing religious symbols of any particular faith cannot be taught in schools,” he said.
Principal Qureshi admitted to what she described as an “inadvertent” mistake, clarifying that a few such charts had unintentionally been distributed. She said the alphabet charts were sourced from Bhopal and that, due to a supplier’s error, three to four items typically used in madrasas were included in the batch.She also claimed that the study materials contained a mix of Urdu-Hindi multiplication tables and were not intended to be part of the school’s regular curriculum.
The controversy has reignited discussions around the use of religious references in educational content, with officials reiterating the importance of adhering strictly to secular and approved teaching materials in schools.