Did not humiliate students: Ex-minister after action by Kerala child rights panel
The Kerala child rights commission has registered a case against K T Jaleel over his remarks and conduct at a student felicitation event in Palakkad. Jaleel says he spoke like a teacher, but the episode has sparked demands for legal action and a wider debate on public treatment of children.
Former Kerala minister KT Jaleel on Tuesday said he did not hurt or humiliate any student at a recent felicitation function in Palakkad, and claimed that he had only interacted with them as a teacher would. His clarification came after the state child rights commission registered a case against him over allegations that he had publicly humiliated students through his remarks at the event.
According to a statement from the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the action was initiated on the basis of visuals aired by television channels. The footage showed Jaleel asking students who had secured A-plus grades in the Class 10 examination whether they knew the alphabet during his address. He was also seen allegedly pulling a student's ear after calling the child onto the stage over an error in writing an address.
Speaking to reporters, Jaleel, a CPI(M) leader, said that before joining politics he was a teacher and that he continued to behave in the same way while interacting with students at public events. Referring to the function, organised to felicitate students who had secured top marks from various municipal wards in Palakkad, he said he had only spoken to them like a teacher would.
He said he was raising concerns about the decline in children's general reading habits and how it had become a wider social issue. "They are good students and get good marks. But beyond academics, their reading habits are decreasing. If they do not read, they will not be aware of what is going on in the world around them. That is what I highlighted," he said.
Jaleel also said he held a student's ear in jest because the boy had made a mistake while writing his address in Hindi. "I did not cause him any pain. You can see him smiling in the video. The child did not complain," he claimed. At the same time, he said that if anyone at the event felt humiliated by what he said, he would apologise.
A former teacher, Jaleel had served as Higher Education Minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government from 2016 to 2021. The Muslim Students Federation, the student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League, has demanded legal action against him, alleging that he had publicly humiliated students and that such behaviour was unacceptable.
The controversy centres on Jaleel's remarks and conduct at the student felicitation event, which have led to action by the child rights commission, while he has maintained that his interaction was in the manner of a teacher and not intended to insult any student.
Former Kerala minister KT Jaleel on Tuesday said he did not hurt or humiliate any student at a recent felicitation function in Palakkad, and claimed that he had only interacted with them as a teacher would. His clarification came after the state child rights commission registered a case against him over allegations that he had publicly humiliated students through his remarks at the event.
According to a statement from the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the action was initiated on the basis of visuals aired by television channels. The footage showed Jaleel asking students who had secured A-plus grades in the Class 10 examination whether they knew the alphabet during his address. He was also seen allegedly pulling a student's ear after calling the child onto the stage over an error in writing an address.
Speaking to reporters, Jaleel, a CPI(M) leader, said that before joining politics he was a teacher and that he continued to behave in the same way while interacting with students at public events. Referring to the function, organised to felicitate students who had secured top marks from various municipal wards in Palakkad, he said he had only spoken to them like a teacher would.
He said he was raising concerns about the decline in children's general reading habits and how it had become a wider social issue. "They are good students and get good marks. But beyond academics, their reading habits are decreasing. If they do not read, they will not be aware of what is going on in the world around them. That is what I highlighted," he said.
Jaleel also said he held a student's ear in jest because the boy had made a mistake while writing his address in Hindi. "I did not cause him any pain. You can see him smiling in the video. The child did not complain," he claimed. At the same time, he said that if anyone at the event felt humiliated by what he said, he would apologise.
A former teacher, Jaleel had served as Higher Education Minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government from 2016 to 2021. The Muslim Students Federation, the student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League, has demanded legal action against him, alleging that he had publicly humiliated students and that such behaviour was unacceptable.
The controversy centres on Jaleel's remarks and conduct at the student felicitation event, which have led to action by the child rights commission, while he has maintained that his interaction was in the manner of a teacher and not intended to insult any student.
