Annual day functions are usually chaotic, crowded affairs — too many parents, too many performances, too many speeches squeezed into one evening.

At a private school in Indore this month, there were two annual days instead. One for Muslim students. Another for Hindu students.

On February 2 and 3, the International School of Bombay in Khajrana held separate annual functions for different groups. Several Muslim parents told Newslaundry they were not informed in advance that the celebrations had been split and only realised when they reached the venue and found that the audience was unusually uniform.

The school, however, said the decision was logistical and considerate, not discriminatory.

Joy Joseph, the admission officer, said, “We held the annual function on two separate days because Shab-e-Baraat was being observed on February 3. We felt Muslim students might not be able to attend the event that day, so we organised a separate function for them on February 2.” He added that the venue, Ravindra Natya Grih, could not accommodate all students and parents together. “We conduct the annual function every year on a fixed date. That is why we did not shift it.”

Principal Manju Chopra could not be reached for comment.

‘No chief guest, audience looked uniform’

“There were only Muslim students and their parents,” said Mir Gulrez Ali, whose son studies in Class 10. “There was limited staff, and they didn’t even invite any chief guest. The very next day, they held a function for Hindu students, where all the staff were present and a chief guest was also invited.”

“They tried to give a lame excuse, saying it was because of Shab-e-Baraat,” he added. “They could have arranged the function on another date… First they discriminate, and then they come up with such idiotic excuses. I have never heard of anything like this in any school.”

Parents described the first event as subdued and thinly staffed, unlike what they expected from an annual day. Uzma, whose child is in class 5, said, “When we reached the annual function, we could only see Muslim students and their parents… There was no one from the management present. The director was not there. The staff was very limited… It didn’t even look like an annual function. There was no chief guest… In contrast, the function conducted the very next day for Hindu students had full staff attendance, a chief guest, and was organised on a much grander scale.”

For many, the separation itself felt bewildering.

“What school in the world conducts separate annual functions for its students simply because they belong to different religions?” asked Zeenat Ullah, another parent. “Schools are meant to be spaces where every child is treated equally… This is deeply insulting and humiliating.”

After learning about the two events, a group of parents approached the school to protest.

Rubeena Khan, a local Congress corporator who met the school management to talk about the issue, said, “Many parents came to me with complaints… I was also informed that the school had made separate seating arrangements for Muslim and Hindu students inside classrooms as well… Initially, the authorities denied any discrimination. But later, they admitted their mistake… They assured us that they would resolve these issues within a month.”

Syed Qasim Ali, who filed a complaint through the CM Helpline, said, “Religious hatred has become an everyday part of our lives now… But at the very least, children should be spared. Discrimination like this divides children forever, not just in classrooms but in their hearts.”

Ali, whose nephew studies in a primary class, further said, “Last year as well, the school indulged in a discriminatory practice. In the school’s annual magazine, they printed only the first names of Muslim students, while the full names of Hindu students were published…Parents strongly objected to this, after which the school was forced to make changes.”

At the time of writing this report, a group of 30 parents had gathered at the education department’s office in Indore to submit a complaint against the school. The complaint refers to three alleged episodes – the annual day, the magazine publishing only the first names of Muslim students, and class sections being allotted along religious lines.

This is not the first incident of this nature in the country. In West Bengal, a primary school had faced an investigation for serving separate mid day meals to students from different religious groups for nearly 25 years. The school maintained separate kitchens and utensils for preparing meals, with two cooks using a common gas connection. In Delhi, teachers at a primary school alleged in 2018 that the institute was segregating Hindu and Muslim students in different sections.

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