Mumbai: A school in Mumbai is on high alert after a threat from Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) following the expulsion of a Std IX student of Vibgyor High School.
The party had set a deadline of June 14 for the school to take the student back.
Adhishree Gopalakrishnan was expelled from the Goregaon school on June 2, reportedly because her mother, Avisha, had led morchas against the fee hike effected by the school. On June 10, the MNS had staged a protest against the school and 10 activists were arrested on charges of rioting and ransacking the school a day later. The deadline of June 14 was subsequently issued by the MNS.
Kavita Sahay, Director, Vibgyor High School, said, "The police have assured us that everything will be under control. They have also taken into custody the activists, who protested in front of our school, so that they do not create a ruckus. "
Parents of students studying in the school were earlier sympathetic to Adhishree's cause, but many are now supporting the school after the MNS protest.
Kiran Manral, mother of a Std II student, said, "I am going to send my child to school, as adequate security has been deployed. We should not bow down to these goons."
Clarifying her stand, Adhishree's mother, Avisha, said, "I have not sent any activists to the school. The school sent SMSes to all the parents saying I was involved. I have sent a defamation letter to the school for the same. My child is brilliant and if she is leaving a school, she should leave with dignity."
Meanwhile, Vipul Jadhav, activist and brother of Virendra Jadhav, MNS' Goregaon president, said, "My brother has been kept in police custody to ensure that they cannot protest again on the deadline they gave to the school."