Police in Telangana’s Nizamabad district have registered a case against a private school’s management and a teacher after parents alleged that Urdu and namaz were being taught to pupils without approval and outside the prescribed syllabus.
The case, centred on a school campus at Perkit village in Armoor mandal, has widened into a law-and-order dispute after activists from the BJP and Hindu organisations staged protests on June 27. Police have also booked a group of activists following a counter-complaint from the school correspondent, who alleged that they trespassed into the campus and attacked staff.
The controversy involves Bhavishya Darsini, which runs Classes 1 to 7, and Bharat Chandra, which runs Classes 8 to 10, on the same campus. Officials said the allegations concerned primary pupils and centred on whether Urdu was being introduced during class hours without permission from the competent education authorities.
The complaint that led to police action was lodged by Armoor tehsildar Satyanarayana after an official visit to the campus. Police, revenue and education department officials inspected the school after parents raised objections and videos began circulating on social media showing children speaking about Urdu lessons. The inquiry is examining whether the institution violated rules governing private schools and approved syllabi.
Police have named Hindi teacher Huma Hania, principal Ameer Khan and correspondent Mallaiah in the case. The FIR invokes Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with acts promoting enmity between groups on grounds including religion and language, along with Section 3, which covers common intention.
Officials said Huma Hania had been appointed to teach Hindi to Classes 1 to 5. The allegation is that she introduced Urdu alphabet lessons instead of limiting instruction to the approved Hindi syllabus. Investigators are also examining claims that pupils were asked to greet one another with “Adaab” rather than “Namaste” in class.
The school authorities have not been convicted of any offence, and the inquiry remains at the investigation stage. Officials said the education department will decide further administrative action after reviewing the inspection report and the school’s approvals, timetable and subject permissions.
The Mandal Education Officer’s report is expected to be crucial because private schools are required to follow the syllabus, medium of instruction and subjects approved by education authorities. Officials said the campus is an English-medium institution and did not have permission to introduce Urdu as a separate subject for primary pupils.
Parents who objected to the alleged lessons argued that the language was not part of the notified curriculum and that they had not consented to such instruction. The issue escalated after videos of children’s statements and classroom notebooks began circulating online, drawing political attention in Armoor.
Police said the principal and correspondent had received complaints from parents and had told the teacher to discontinue the lessons. Investigators are also looking into allegations that pages containing Urdu notes were torn from pupils’ notebooks after objections were raised, a claim that officials believe may have intensified public anger.
The second case has been registered against BJP workers and others accused of entering the school premises and assaulting staff. Police said BJP Armoor town president Mandula Balu and other activists went to the campus on June 27 and confronted school officials over the alleged Urdu lessons. The complaint against them includes allegations of trespass and assault.
That FIR invokes provisions relating to criminal trespass, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief and common intention. Police said the allegations on both sides would be investigated separately and that video evidence, statements of pupils, staff and parents, and official records would be examined.
The dispute has sharpened debate over language instruction in private schools in Telangana, where Telugu and Urdu both have official status but school-level teaching still requires compliance with sanctioned curricula. Education officials said the official status of a language does not by itself allow a private institution to introduce it as a classroom subject without approval.
