Gujarat: Top Scoring Muslim Girl Denied Award at a School Function in Mehsana

Lakshmi Patel | 19 August 2023 | The Wire

Photo: Independent Press.

When Arnazbanu arrived for a function organised by her school to honour Class 10 and Class 12 on Independence Day, she expected to be the first to be called on stage. After all, with a score of 87% in Class 10, she was the topper. That was not to be. In what appears to be a case of deliberate discrimination based on religion, Shri K. T. Patel Smriti Vidyalaya, a school located in Lunwa village of Mehsana district, refused to honour its star student.

Arnazbanu is reported to have returned home in tears. Her father, Sanwar Khan, a resident of Lunava village, expressed his distress over the incident, stating, “She told us that the award which should have been hers was bestowed upon a student who secured the second position. I engaged with school authorities and teachers seeking an explanation, but their responses were vague at best. While they assure us that the reward will be given on January 26, my question remains – why was it not granted on August 15? As a farmer deeply rooted in this land, our family has lived here for generations without encountering any form of discrimination. But now my daughter has deliberately been overlooked for an award she deserved.”

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