Mumbai: Petition seeks reinstatement of principal sacked over tweets

People claiming to be wellwishers of Parveen Shaikh the former principal of The Somaiya School in Vidyavihar have come together to move an online petition on Changeorg in support of her The group Voice of India Justice in Education has asked the Somaiya Trust to reconsider its decision questioning if the credibility of the website that published the article was taken into consideration before the decision to terminate her contract was madeSince May 25 the petition has exceeded its initial goal of a thousand signatures with 1500 people having signed it by the evening of May 26In the petition addressed to the Somaiya Trust the group describes itself as ldquoPeople from all walks of life who believe that the termination of Ms Parveen Shaikh is unfairrdquo The plea reads ldquoWe write this letter to condemn the termination of the principalship of Ms Parveen Shaikh While we understand that a contract of employment is a relationship between the employee and employer we are writing this letter to raise our concerns on grounds of fairness courage and democratic valuesWe have seen that your school website contains testimonies of parents praising Ms Shaikh in her capacity as a principal Her twelve years of service to the school seven of which were spent as a principal surely demanded more empathy while looking into the allegations that were levelled on her We wonder if the credibility of the website that published the article was taken into consideration when the decision to terminate her contract was maderdquolsquoPlease reconsider decisionrsquoThe petition further reads ldquoWe believe your action amounts to submission to the pressure seemingly generated by the website known for its skewed biased and provocative viewsWe live in times that are increasingly becoming polarised for the benefit of a few In times like these what is the message that you wish to convey to the world through this act Does this imply that henceforth people can be fired on the basis of articles posted on websites especially the unreliable or propaganda ones Should the years of service character of the person quality of the work professional ethics and service rendered to the student community not be taken into account when taking a decision as grave as terminating the contract of a principal ostensibly due to loss of confidence What message would you be conveying to the students in your care As people who run such a reputed school and other institutions of learning in the city standing by your employee and standing for your employee could have helped to strengthen the diverse fabric of society that is in danger from extremism and intolerance today We ask you on the grounds of fairness and propriety to reconsider your decision of hastily and unfairly terminating the services of Ms Parveen ShaikhrdquoParents speakWhile Shaikh has already started exploring legal options for herself against the termination by the school management a parent on the condition of anonymity said ldquoThe majority of parents in the school feel that the termination order was issued on unfair grounds and was not democratic The management seems to have taken the step under immense pressure We do not agree with thisrdquoAnother parent said ldquoWe still feel that the management needs to clarify its stance on the entire issue What is hurtful is that their decision seems solely based on the things written against Shaikh in the article posted on a websiterdquoCase backgroundOn May 7 days after Shaikh revealed that she was asked to resign by the institutersquos management over a series of tweets the Somaiya Trust announced that it had ldquodiscontinued associationrdquo with her as her social media activities were misaligned with the values and ethos promoted by the Vidyavihar schoolOn May 4 the trust issued a statement saying it had sought a written explanation from Shaikh about the social media controversy and a few other things Shaikh affirmed the news stating ldquoI saw it on Twitter before my emailrdquo Shaikh added that she submitted her response to the managements inquiry by 1 pm on MondayAs per reports Shaikh via her X handle ParveenShaikh1 liked and made comments on ldquoproPalestine proHamas antiHindu and antiModi regime tweetsrdquo In response to one of the posts by a handle RantsampRoast asking followers to caption a picture where PM Modi is seen bending a little while standing next to Chinese President Xi Jinping Shaikh replied ldquoTommy fetchrdquo In a post dated June 2022 with a link to an article wherein Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan stated that Qatarrsquos demand for a public apology over remarks on the Prophet Mohammed is not important Shaikh replied ldquoThey have sold their soul to the devilrdquo She has also been accused of sympathising with Umar Khalid an accused in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots lsquolarger conspiracyrsquo caseIn the wake of allegations against Shaikh the Somaiya Trustrsquos management issued a statement posted on social media platforms stating ldquoWe were unaware of the sentiments expressed until it was brought to our notice We do not agree with such sentiments It is certainly concerning We are looking into the matterrdquo Shaikh was reportedly asked to resign on April 26 following an article published on a website The management however at that time stated that the investigation into the matter was still ongoing neither confirming nor denying any request for resignationThis was also the first time that the management issued a public statement regarding the dismissal of Shaikh acknowledging her ldquopersonal social media activitiesrdquo as the reason for the sameApril 26Day principal was allegedly asked to resign