NEW DELHI, Feb 16: A Gujarat government official was suspended and an inquiry launched by the Youth Services and Cultural Activities department for conducting an elocution competition in Gujarati on the topic of “My ideal Nathuram Godse,” (the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi) for students of several government and private schools in Valsad district in South Gujarat. Godse was executed in 1949.
Neetaben Gavli, the youth development officer, was suspended in connection with the event that was organised for students of classes 5-8 where prizes were also given away.
The event was organised at Kusum Vidyalaya, a self-financed school, as part of the district level Child talent search competition under the youth service and cultural activities department of the Gujarat government on Monday. The school authorities said they had only lent the school premises for hosting the event and nobody from the school participated in it.
At the event, students between eight to 12 years from 25 different government and private schools in the district participated across categories like elocution, Doha Chhand sopai, folk music, folklore, essay writing, character roles, choral music, bhajans, folk dance and crafts, etc. The prize distribution ceremony was held on the same day.
While the news of the contest went viral on social media, the District Education Office claimed ignorance.
Senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia condemned the incident and tweeted, “In the name of an elocution contest, in Valsad, this is an extremely shameful attempt to indoctrinate children about Godse being a hero thus founding hatred for Mahatma Gandhi in their minds.” He warned of a public agitation that would ‘usurp’ the BJP if it did not stop ‘worshipping’ Godse.
Valsad district collector Kshipra Agre said, “We have suspended the concerned officer Neetaben Gavli with immediate effect, after we received an order from the higher officials of Cultural department in Gandhinagar. They have also started an inquiry into the incident.”
District Education officer B D Baraiya said, “We were not aware about such an event organized at Kusum Vidyalaya, as it was planned and implemented by the district yuva vikas office. The yuva vikas office had on February 8 circulated a letter to all 25 government and private schools in the district and sought participation of students in different competitions to be held at Kusum Vidyalaya on Tithal road in Valsad on February 14. Even the judges were deputed from Yuva vikas office.”
Kusum Vidyalaya, where the event took place, is a higher secondary school run by the Samarpan Charities. School trustee Vivek Desai said, “Not a single student or teacher participated in this event organized at our school. We got a letter from district yuva vikas office to arrange our classrooms to host the competitions.”
(Manas Dasgupta)