On Monday (28 August), Tripta recorded her statement and released it, where she apologised for unintentionally hurting sentiments. She said in her defence that she is physically handicapped and has trouble getting up, due to which she asked her students to punish the child.

She said that she should not have done so, and there was no communal intention behind what she did.

While Irshad Ali and his son and nephews have refrained from giving a communal interpretation to the incident, and it is clear that the majority of the village’s Hindu and Muslim communities hold a similar perspective, the involvement of political figures in the case has led to a different narrative being presented outside the village.

On Friday (25 August) when the brief video of the incident went viral, the case took a political turn when several BJP-opposition leaders reacted to the video, holding the BJP responsible for “sowing seeds of hate” and claiming that “minority” communities are on the target.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Sowing the poison of discrimination in the minds of innocent children, turning a holy place like school into a marketplace of hatred – nothing worse a teacher can do for the country. This is the same kerosene spread by the BJP which has set every corner of India on fire. Children are the future of India – do not hate them, we all have to teach love together.”

Jayant Singh, Rajya Sabha MP and Rashtriya Lok Dal leader, wrote, “Muzaffarnagar school video is a painful warning of how deep-rooted religious divides can trigger violence against the marginalised, minority communities. Our MLAs from Muzzafarnagar will ensure that UP Police files a case suo moto & the child’s education is not disrupted!”

AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi wrote that the hateful thinking of Yogi Adityanath (Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh) was responsible for the incident.

Besides, several mediapersons jumped at the initial hazy details of the case to label the incident a hate crime.

Despite the media frenzy and political turmoil, Irshad expressed hope that the incident would not incite discord among Khubbapur’s inhabitants. He appeared confident that the bond between Hindu and Muslim Tyagis, which has existed for centuries, would endure.

Many local inhabitants, regardless of their religion, criticised the incident and called for the teacher to be punished. However, they all concurred that the incident should not be communalised, saying the village has a history of Hindu-Muslim harmony that they wish to maintain.

The residents of Khubbapur hope that the situation will soon calm down, and that they can return to their daily routines without the media glare and political interference.

(Note: The ground visit was made by Prabhat, who interns with Swarajya. The report has been written by Swati Goel Sharma).