Karnataka: Bidar school booked for sedition sanitises shrines

BIDAR: After offering its premises for a quarantine facility, Shaheen School — which is charged with sedition over a students’ play — is now helping disinfect temples, mosques, dargahs and churches across the district. School authorities said they hoped to sanitise more than 250 places of worship which have been thrown open on easing of the Covid-19-induced lockdown.
“We have constituted four teams, each comprising six members.Every day, our staff visit temples, mosques, Lingayat shrines and churches to spray disinfectant,” said CEO of the school, Thouseef Madikeri. For a week now, four tankers have been deployed, with the school providing the disinfectant too. “So far, 100 shrines have been sanitised,” he said.
“We salute the school’s commitment, cutting across religious lines. We are moved by their work,” said Chandrashekhar Gada of Panduranga Mandir. MP Jaipal, priest of a Methodist church, said the efforts had made worship safer for the faithful.
Quarantine facility set up on campus
Their drive will build confidence among the faithful to visit places of worship without fear of infection.”
The district administration has set up a quarantine facility on the school’s campus. The school building housed around 500 people on and off, with staffers preparing food for them as well. The management also arranged for sanitiser and masks. It continues to function as an isolation unit.
The school was charged with sedition in January after children staged an anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) play in which a girl from Class 6 girl allegedly made unscripted derogatory remarks against PM Narendra Modi. The police had booked the student’s mother and members of the school management, including the chairman.