Allahabad school manager says `Bharat Bhagya Vidhata` violates basic tenets of Islam, arrested; Centre says won`t accept insult to national anthem

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday took strong objection to a private school in Allahabad ordering banning singing of the national anthem.

Zia-ul Haq, manager of MA Convent School in Baghara locality, had justified his decision to ban the reciting of the national anthem saying, the phrase 'Bharat Bhagya Vidhata' violated the basic tenets of Islam.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Mahendra Nath Pandey said the government would not accept the insult to the national anthem.

The issue has hogged the headlines and the Bharatiya Janata Party along with Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Hindu Yuva Vahini have demanded strict action against the administration.

Meanwhile, a magisterial inquiry has been ordered to look into how the school was allowed to run for two decades without any clearance from authorities and the allegation against the manager, they said.

Haq was arrested under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act after several teachers resigned over the issue.

The proceeding to seal the alleged illegal school has already been initiated.

Ritu Tripathi, principal of the school, told ANI on Sunday that she went to the school management seeking their permission to organise events like singing of national anthem and `Saraswati Vandana` for the August 15 function, but she was told that such events had not been organised since the school was established, and thus, it won`t be done this year too.

She said when she asked the reason behind the denial of permission the management told her that they had an issue with `one line in the national anthem` ie `Bharat bhagya vidhata`.