Hijab row in MP: BJP leader throws ink at Damoh district education office

The ink was thrown on the district education officer (DEO) of Damoh in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday by some BJP functionaries who accused him of favouring a private school which was at the centre of a row over a headscarf allegedly being part of the uniform.

The incident occurred when DEO SK Mishra's vehicle was moving out of the office campus in the afternoon.

BJP's Damoh district vice president Amit Bajaj claimed responsibility for the ink attack.

The incident was condemned by Madhya Pradesh BJP unit president VD Sharma.

The state Education Department last week suspended the recognition of Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School following a controversy over a poster showing girls, including Hindu students, wearing headscarves that looked like hijab as part of the uniform.

A couple of students of the school alleged that Hindu students were being forced to wear hijabs and offer namaz in the school.

Initially, the DEO had given a clean chit to the school but the district collector later constituted a probe committee on the directives of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

After throwing the ink on the DEO, Bajaj alleged Mishra had tried to suppress the issue though he was aware of illegal activities in the school.

Reacting to the incident, Mishra said some suspects have thrown ink suddenly and he didn't know their names.

"But their faces are known. Their bills about school maintenance work remained pending due to late deposit and funds were lapsed," he claimed.

Mishra said he didn't conduct any inquiry into the school issue and had nothing to do with it directly as alleged.

Damoh Superintendent of Police, Rakesh Kumar Singh, said no complaint of an ink attack has been received so far.

“The law is taking its own course in the Ganga Jamuna School incident and the guilty will be punished, but no one has the right to commit an act like throwing ink on a government official after being swayed by emotions. The BJP does not support such incidents,” V D Sharma tweeted.

Following the incident, district BJP chief Pritam Singh Lodhi has issued a show cause notice to Bajaj, local functionary Monti Raikwar, and another leader for their involvement.