Delhi govt teacher, who was booked for hate rant against Muslims, is a repeat offender: Students

Students of Hema Gulati, the government school teacher accused of making hateful remarks against Muslims and Islam, have alleged that she is a repeat offender who began making derogatory comments about Muslims over the past month.

Gulati, 33, a teacher at a school in east Delhi’s Kailash Nagar, taught three subjects — English, entrepreneurship mindset curriculum (EMC), and the Deshbhakti curriculum. According to a complaint filed on August 25, Gulati went on a hateful rant against Muslims on August 23. She was subsequently booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class), but is yet to be arrested.

A 14-year-old student of hers alleged that soon after Muharram, which was observed on July 29, Gulati made demeaning remarks about Muslims, saying that “you have got everything using swords and knives”.

A second student alleged that Gulati, in front of his mother and sister, said, “How can you cut animals and eat them? Do you have no mercy?”

Another student’s mother said that a few weeks ago, she approached Gulati to tell her that her son was unwell, and wouldn’t be attending school for the next few days. “Her response shocked me. She told me that she’ll write a transfer certificate for my son, and that he should complete his education from open school because he doesn’t study and she doesn’t want anyone failing her class,” said the boy’s mother.

Her students, and their guardians, said that a teacher who was supposed to instil the spirit of patriotism and nationhood among every child, instead spread hate.

A woman, an alumni of this school, whose children now study here, said she has never witnessed such behaviour from any teacher at the institution. “Our teachers were so good, they never taught us any discrimination. In fact, we used to decorate the school on Diwali,” she said.

The 13-year-old complainant’s sister quoted Sare Jahan Se Accha and said, “Mazhab nahi sikhata, aapas mein bair rakhna… This is what deshbhakti (patriotism) is, but this teacher is teaching children the complete opposite.”