Failure to exhibit responsibilities
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: June 20 2015 -
The recent arrest of leaders of a prominent student organization for thrashing a teacher in retaliation for alleged physical assault and punishment meted out to a student of a school should not be dismissed as mere episodic phenomenon.
Though the news found itself hitting headlines on page one of most dailies published in Imphal, one has to acknowledge the fact that it was a clear cut case of gross failure being exhibited by responsible institutions.
What has startled any discerning citizen is the fact that the arrest of the student leaders had attracted more media attention than the actual crux of the problem.
According to reports, it is said that the teacher had allegedly assaulted the student over a trivial matter like replying to a question he posed to the students.
The teacher might have been incensed by the behaviour of the student. However, he had failed to restrain himself following the legal provision on prevention of corporal punishment meted out to students.
One is not sure if the teacher actually knew that corporal punishment has been banned in India too.
Heads of schools have been made responsible to prevent corporal punishment and teachers found guilty could be denied promotion and even increments.
The issue would have been nipped in the bud had stern action been taken right in beginning.
The offence committed by the teacher is also punishable under section 23 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 which says that punishment for cruelty to a child including assaults in a manner likely to cause the child mental or physical suffering would be punishable with “imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or fine, or with both.”
The responsible school administration should have taken adequate care so as to prevent undesirable consequences instead of projecting the teacher as an innocent victim of physical assault that took place in the aftermath of first incident.
Now that the leaders of the student organisation have been arrested and remanded to police custody for assaulting a teacher who had also breached the rules, the issue is not likely to resolve soon till all parties understand the usefulness of doing away with unwarranted violence.
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