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This story is from February 6, 2020

Bidar cops interrogate 85 school kids 5 times over 9 days for 'anti-CAA play'

Congress MP gives zero hour notice over Karnataka school play
BIDAR: Child rights groups in a statement have criticised the Bidar police’s repeated interrogation of school children in the last nine days, calling it “a blatant violation of the Juvenile Justice Act (2015)”.
Police in Bidar, Karnataka, questioned nearly 85 kids of Shaheen School for the fifth time on February 4 regarding a case in which their school has been charged with sedition for staging a play on January 21 that was deemed to be "critical" of the revised citizenship law CAA.
The allegations include “derogatory remarks” made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A student's mother has been arrested and remains in jail. The inconsolable daughter, who is in Class 6 and barely 10 years old, told TOI that she hasn’t slept since her mother was taken in custody. “I’m really scared. My mother is everything for me. I want police to send my ma home,” she said. Her mother Nasbunnisa is a widow. The child is now in the care of one of her teachers. Fareeda Begum, a teacher of Urdu, was also arrested along with the mother on January 30.
A member of the school management said police lined up children of classes 4 to 6 and “asked the same question” every time: was the “objectionable” part in the original script. “They even question children who were not part of the play,” said Yusuf Ahmad, the school director. “Nearly 85 children have been interrogated so far. Every day police virtually camp at school. It is torture.”
Y Mariswamy, former chairman of Karnataka child rights body (KSCPCR), said police in uniform interrogated the children, which violates norms of child rights. “Police must first refer the case to the department’s juvenile unit, but this has been blatantly violated,” he said.
“Police have been interrogating the children in an intimidating manner. We need to see how this impacts the children’s psyche. They will be scarred for the rest of their lives,” said advocate Clifton D Rozario of Manthan Law, among the signatories of the statement. Many have urged the national child rights body NCPCR to take due note of the case.

Police filed sedition charges against the management of Shaheen School, part of the Shaheen Group of Institutions, on January 26 after local ABVP member Neelesh Rakshyala filed a complaint with the Bidar New Town police station.
It later arrested Nasbunnisa for allegedly tutoring her daughter to make derogatory remarks against Modi in the play. The “objectionable” dialogue was not in the original script, say police. Fareeda Begum was arrested for “allowing the play to continue”. The portion in contention was reportedly an impromptu addition.
Investigating officer DSP Basaveshwara Heera has been involved in the questioning of the children too and said he and his team were “simply discharging their duty to see if their (the kids’) take corroborates with that of the teacher, parent and school".
Rozario said the Bidar case was “an example of police being used by the state to crack down on dissent.” He added, “The bedrock of democracy is to be able to be critical of policy. And the dissent in this case is not out of the ordinary. People across the country — in fact lakhs -- are on the street against it. Retired judges to lawyers to the who’s who of society have taken a stand that this is unconstitutional. “
Meanwhile, the sessions court in Bidar has been moved seeking anticipatory bail for five members of the school management, including the institution’s founder Abdul Qadeer. The court on Wednesday adjourned the case and posted the hearing for February 11.
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