Kerala teacher suspended over controversial question praising Savarkar in school quiz contest

Thiruvananthapuram: A primary school teacher who prepared a controversial quiz questionnaire praising V D Savarkar as part of Independence Day celebrations in schools has been suspended pending an investigation.

Guru Prasad, a teacher at AUPS Pallathadka in the Kumbla sub-district of Kasaragod, was suspended by the Director of Public Education following instructions from the Minister for General Education A N Samsudheen.

The controversy arose over a ‘Freedom Quiz’ organised on August 6 across schools in the Kasaragod, Kumbla and Manjeshwar sub-districts. Allegations surfaced that the quiz paper included an unverified and misleading question asking who had served the longest prison sentence during British rule, with the answer provided as V D Savarkar.

Following protests from various student organisations, Education Minister A N Samsudheen sought explanations from the Director of Public Education, Assistant Educational Officers (AEOs) and the teachers involved in framing the questions. Action was taken after an inquiry report highlighted that setting such a misleading question paper was a grave lapse.