A school in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh invoked the wrath of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on 2 October, after a school play on Mahatma Gandhi showed his assassin Nathuram Godse wearing the RSS uniform, while firing the gun.
The school at the centre of the controversy is Small Wonders Senior Secondary School in Jabalpur, where a silent play was staged by students on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary on Wednesday, 2 October. Local RSS worker Yatnidra Upadhyay approached the Lordganj Police Station and lodged a complaint which stated that the school through its play had defamed the RSS.
According to Upadhyay, Godse was neither a member of the RSS nor did the organisation have any involvement in the assassination of the ‘Father of the Nation.’ Jabalpur Superintendent of Police Deepak Mishra has stated that a non-cognisable offence has been registered under Section 500 (punishment for defamation) under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Mishra has stated that the complainant will have to approach the court as the police does not undertake investigation on cases registered under Section 500 of IPC.
The school through a post on Facebook issued an apology on Friday, 4 October, in which it stated that in a silent play staged by students of junior classes, a mistake was made of showing Nathuram Godse in RSS uniform.
Upadhyay also told the Indian Express that the school’s owner had approached the local RSS office bearer Prashant Singh and issued a written apology which was accepted.
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