A state-run school in Bengal named Saraswati Sishu Mandir loses affiliation from the West Bengal government for printing “Islampur” as “Ishwarpur” in its admission notice.
West Bengal School Changes ‘Islampur’ to ‘Iswarpur’, Loses Affiliation
The school is located in Bengal’s North Dinajpur district and it is operated by Vidya Bharati .The location of a school is run by the Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The controversy arises when the school admission notice mentioned ‘Islampur’ as ‘Iswarpur’.
According to the recent report in Bengali daily Ananda Bazaar Patrika, this incident has produced a controversy as various questions are being raised whether a school affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education can alter the name of its place. State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, who is a forefront leader of the ruling party, has guaranteed for looking into the matter. He also included by saying that whether the school is at all allied to the state education board will be examined.
Partha Chatterjee, who is an Indian politican as well as State education minister of West Bengal has given orders for an inquiry for this matter, interrogating that how could a school affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education can alter the name of its place from ‘Islampur’ to ‘Iswarpur’.
Partha Chatterjee said.“I am aware about the matter and ordered a probe”
Meanwhile, an official team from West Bengal Board of Secondary Education visited at the North Dinajpur School in Bengal for further investigation. The official team then called the school principal, Khudiram Rai and collected all the documents, including the affiliation letter of the school.
School principal Khudiram Rai in an interview said. “They came and left with all the documents but, I would like to clarify that we have maintained the name ‘Islampur’ in all our official records. It was only on few admission notices ‘Islampur’ was mentioned as ‘Iswarpur’ because locally this place is known as both ‘Islampur’ and ‘Iswarpur’. The matter was unnecessarily blown out of proportion”
He then also added, “Yesterday, I heard that West Bengal Board of Secondary Education cancelled its affiliation. Presently, we have more than 500 students till class eight and we are worried about their future.”
Partha Ghosh, Organizing Secretary of Vidya Bharati, North Bengal said, “It is very unfortunate that the government has cancelled its affiliation. We will decide the next course of action soon after consulting the matter with the higher level in our organization.”
Bimal Das, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) also shared his views on this controversy by saying, “We have decided to take the matter to Calcutta High Court because it is the matter of future of several children who are studying in the school. How can the government take such stand?”
He then further said, “The place is known as both ‘Islampur’ and ‘Iswarpur’. If you ask the bus conductor to drop you at Iswarpur, he will drop you at Islampur. It is very common among the local people. There are several places in Bengal where a place is known by two names. In Malda district, there is a place called Gazole, which also known as Shivaji Nagar. This is quite common in rural Bengal. I don’t know why people are making it controversial.”
