Kolkata School Teacher Suspended and FIR Filed Over Student's Tilak

A teacher at Holy Mission English Medium School in New Alipore, south Kolkata, has been suspended and a police case has been registered against her for allegedly forcing a Class 5 student to remove a sandalwood tilak from his forehead. The announcement was made by Suvendu Adhikari, who stated that the teacher repeatedly forced the boy to wash off the mark. The school secretary, S Chowdhury, stated that the suspension followed a notice from the district inspector of schools after a complaint was lodged by the student. According to the school, the teacher claimed she asked the boy to wash his face because the tilak had smudged in the heat and that the student may have misconstrued the request. Chowdhury added that the school has never stopped students from following religious customs and noted that the administration only learned of the FIR through a press conference video. During the same press conference, Adhikari announced the suspension of Paromita Sen, a state employee at Bikash Bhawan, for an objectionable social media post regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi.