Kerala Pro-Palestinian mime row: MSF, SFI protest; demand action against teachers
text_fields
Screengrab from viral footage of the event.
Kasaragod/Kerala: The student organisations MSF and SFI staged protests at a school here on Saturday after teachers allegedly stopped a mime show in support of Palestine, PTI reported.
According to police, the mime show was stopped during the school arts festival at Kumbala Government Higher Secondary School on Friday. Two teachers intervened and asked them to stop the performance before pulling down the stage curtains, they said.
The move drew sharp criticism, prompting the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to convene a meeting on Saturday.
Activists of the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), the student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), demanded action against the teachers. The protestors alleged that teachers locked students in a room to stop the event.
Pro CPI(M) Student Federation of India (SFI) cadres also staged a protest at the school.
Officials said the PTA was looking to resume the arts festival and resolve the issues.
Kerala’s Education Minister V. Sivankutty on Saturday ordered an inquiry into halting the mime performance. The minister asserted that the state stands in solidarity with children and families in Palestine.
Minister Sivankutty instructed the Director of Public Education to carry out an immediate investigation and submit a report on the incident. “It is important to understand exactly why the performance was interrupted and why the festival was altered,” he said.
Emphasising Kerala’s consistent stance on international human rights, the minister said, “Kerala has always taken a firm position against the genocide being carried out by Israel in Palestine. We stand in solidarity with the children and families being persecuted there. It is not acceptable for any authority to prevent students from expressing themselves on such matters.”
Clarifying the government’s position on student rights and creative expression, Sivankutty added, “I want to make it clear that students at Kumbala School will be allowed to perform the same mime on stage. Creative expression in educational settings must be encouraged, especially when it reflects social and global concerns.”