Mangaluru school fulfils BJP MLAs demand, suspends teacher who told students ‘Ramayan, Mahabharat imaginary’

News Network
February 13, 2024

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Mangaluru: A teacher was suspended from St Gerosa English Higher Primary School in Jeppu here on Monday, February 12, after a few parents and students instigated by Hindutva outfits accused her of hurting the sentiments of Hindus by calling Ramayana an imaginary story and “failing to respect” PM Narendra Modi during a Moral Science lesson.

The agitators, supported by elected representatives of BJP, alleged that a teacher from St Gerosa English HR Primary School in the coastal town taught students that the Mahabharat and the Ramayan were "imaginary".

Sr Anitha, the headmistress, said the teacher in question, Sr Prabha, in her late-40s and who had been teaching at the school for about 10 years, will soon be replaced.

The current incident came to light after an audio clip reportedly made by a parent and addressed to a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader went viral on Saturday, leading to protests by parents in front of the school.

The parent claimed that a class seven teacher had made derogatory remarks during a Moral Science lesson titled 'Work is Worship', hurting religious sentiments. He claimed that the teacher reportedly made derogatory remarks about the consecration of Ram Lalla idol and the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and made certain observations about the Godhra incident and the subsequent Gujarat riots of 2002.

“We will abide by the final decision of the inquiry team. Such an unfortunate incident had never happened in this 60-year-old school. It has created a temporary mistrust. We abide by the constitutional values and treat all faith and communities equally,” the headmistress said, as protests continued on Monday. At one point, the public tried to barge into the school compound, but were thwarted by the police.

The decision to suspend the teacher was taken after a meeting between deputy commissioner Mullai Muhilan MP, city police commissioner Anupam Agrawal, DDPI DR Naik and representatives of the school staff and management, following protests by a section of the parents and two MLAs, demanding action against the accused teacher.

The DC said an inquiry into the incident will be completed at the earliest.

Earlier in the day, BJP MLAs D Vedavyas Kamath and Dr Bharath Shetty, VHP leader Sharan Pumpwell, and others met the DDPI and submitted a memorandum, demanding suspension of the teacher.

While the school took its time to announce the suspension of the teacher, many students backed by Hindutva forces, too, joined the protests, even as slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram,” “Bharat Ka Baccha Jai Shree Ram Bolega,” “Bharat Mata ki jai, “Vande Mataram” rent the air.

Though the initial demand was to suspend Sr Prabha, later, irate parents and a section of the students also made allegations against another teacher who had allegedly made derogatory remarks against ‘Koragajja.’

Once the DC and police commissioner arrived at the spot, they tried to pacify the MLAs who claimed they had been waiting for nearly four hours without an appropriate response from the school management.

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News Network
November 21,2025

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Udupi: The Malpe Police have arrested two men from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly sharing classified information related to Indian Navy vessels with individuals in Pakistan, posing a serious threat to national security.

According to a complaint filed by the CEO of Udupi Cochin Shipyard, Malpe—an institution under the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways—the prime accused, Rohit (29), was working as an insulator through subcontractor M/S Shushma Marine Pvt Ltd. He had earlier served at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi, Kerala, where naval ships are under construction.

Udupi SP Hariram Shankar said the accused had unlawfully shared, via WhatsApp, confidential identification numbers of Navy-related ships and other classified details while working in Kerala, allegedly for illegal gains.

After joining the Malpe shipyard unit, Rohit reportedly continued collecting sensitive information through a friend in Kochi and circulated it to unauthorised individuals, violating national security protocols and potentially endangering India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity.

Based on the complaint, Malpe Police registered a case under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

A police team led by Karkala Subdivision Assistant Superintendent of Police Harsha Priyamvada—along with PSI Anil Kumar D, ASI Harish, and PC Ravi Jadhav—conducted the investigation and arrested the two accused, identified as Rohit (29) and Santri (37), both residents of Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh.

The duo was produced before the court, which remanded them in judicial custody till December 3. Further investigation is in progress.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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