Video of Students Sent Back Home by Institution for Not Wearing Uniform Shared With False Communal Narrative…

A video is being shared widely on social media platforms with a claim that Muslim girls were stopped from celebrating Onam by fundamentalists.

However, when we checked the video we found out that the communal narrative shared along with the video is False. The institution sent the students home for not wearing school uniform. Let’s check out the facts about this incident.

False Narrative on Social Media

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In the tweet given above, we can see the user claiming that Islamist fundamentalists stopped Muslim girls from celebrating Onam in a Kerala government school and shooed them away. The caption of the tweet is as follows:

“Jihadis In Kasaragod, Kerala Kicked Out Girls Who Was Celebrating Onam Festival In Govt School By Saying Celebrating Onam Festival Is Haram.”

Facebook

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The same narrative can be found in Malayalam social media as well. In the Facebook post given above, we can see the same video shared with a caption in Malayalam, which claims that the video is from a government school where Islamist fundamentalists stopped Muslim girls from celebrating Onam. 

Earlier, a controversy had surfaced when a Muslim organization had raised objections on Muslim girls dancing and celebrating Onam in a Kerala school. However, let us find out how true are the claims about this particular video. 

Fact Check

The video is claimed to be from Pallikkara’s Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS) as evident from the text etched on the video. Pallikkara is a small town in Kanhangad block of Kasaragod district of Kerala. In order to find out more about the incident, we contacted local journalists from Pallikkara. They confirmed that the video is from Pallikkara GHSS. Next, we contacted the Deputy Director of Education of Kasaragod district, K. V. Pushpa. She told us that, “Pallikkara GHSS had organized a programme to celebrate Onam on 2 September 2022. The students were clearly instructed to attend the programme wearing only school uniform. Despite this, many students turned up wearing mufti. The school authorities sent these students home. Someone shot the video when these students were going out of the school campus and uploaded it on social media with a false narrative. This incident has no communal angle to it. The school students were sent home only because they failed to show up in school uniform.”

When we searched for news regarding the incident seen in the video using related keywords on Google and social media platforms like Twitter, we can across a Facebook post by Kasaragod Police. Kasaragod Police has called out the narrative false in their Facebook post given below.

The caption of the post says, “Some anti-social elements are spreading fake news on social media platforms to destroy the peace and communal harmony in the district. The District Police Chief has taken note of this and has ordered strict cyber patrolling against these anti-social elements and also instructed to take strict action against the perpetrators.”

 Kasaragod District Collector has also put out a Facebook post clarifying the same. The post of Kasaragod DC says, “The social media campaign claiming girls from a particular community were abused in an institution where they had went for Onam celebrations is completely baseless. Strict action will be taken against people who are spreading such fake news to promote hatred.”

We also contacted the District Information Officer Mr. Madhusudhan and the principal of Palikkara GHSS. Both of them reaffirmed what Kasaragod’s Deputy Director of Education had said. They both confirmed that the students were sent home only for disciplinary reasons and not for any communal reason. The students were instructed to attend the event wearing only school uniform. Yet, some students showed up wearing mufti and hence school authorities sent them back.

This fact check was first done by Fact Crescendo Malayalam. You can read their fact check in Malayalam by clicking the link given below:

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Read Fact Check in Malayalam | സ്കൂളില്‍ ഓണാഘോഷം നടത്തുന്നതില്‍ നിന്ന് മുസ്ലിം കുട്ടികളെ വിലക്കിയെന്ന് വ്യാജ പ്രചരണം…

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Conclusion

From our investigation, it is clear that the students seen in the video were sent off from a school function for disobeying instructions laid down by the school authorities. The students were instructed before the function to attend the function only in school uniform. When some students showed up wearing clothes other than the school uniform, the school authorities sent these students back home. This incident was captured and shared with a false narrative by some on social media platforms.