Reinstated, but teacher couple won’t join

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 16

The couple who was sacked on their wedding day by a prominent school has refused to join back as the management under fire had decided to reinstate them.

The decision to reinstate Tariq Bhat and Sumaya Bashir, residents of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, by the Muslim Education Institute was taken by the school authorities after a meeting with Pulwama Deputy Commissioner Ghulam Mohammad Dar on Saturday.

“The two have been reinstated,” a member of school management said.

However, the couple said they won’t rejoin their services in the school.

“After today’s meeting at the Pulwama Deputy Commissioner’s office, a member of the school management teased me and my wife. This is how they treated us after the meeting and it’s an indication to how they will behave in future as well. Therefore, we have decided not to join the school and have informed the Pulwama Deputy Commissioner too,” Bhat said. “We want action against the school.”

The couple was sacked on their wedding day for what the school claimed of having a romantic relationship, which could have an adverse impact on the students of the school.

The J&K’s State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) had on Friday taken a suo moto notice of the news reports and directed the, Director, Education, Kashmir, and Muslim Education Institute principal to submit a report. The SHRC also asked the principal to be personally present in the office on December 18 for the next hearing of the case.