Dimapur, January 7 (MExN): Sainik School Punglwa, with all its ceremonious facade and colorful promises for the state, has found itself entangled in sleazy mess with serious allegations of sexual molestation, mental and physical harassment meted out to the staffs by the chief sdministrator of the school. This was unearthed by the Naga Students Federation (NSF) and the Zeliangrong Student’s Union, Nagaland (ZSUN) during a joint visit to the Sainik School on October 12, 2007.
A detailed press statement received here today from the Zeliangrong Students’ Union, Nagaland (ZSUN) which was issued by its president, Lungchui and general secretary, Kangzang Liegise exposed an incident of molestation of a lady employee working on contractual basis in the school, by the principal of the School, Col BS Rathore, on July 22, 2007.
Calling that particular day a black day for the school, the ZSUN said that on July 22, 2007, Col BS Rathore, who was under the influence of alcohol, molested the lady staffer, ‘in presence of another lady staff’. The principal ‘reportedly’ manipulated the regular school routine by sending the students from the hostel to the movie hall so that he could spend maximum time with the victim and carry out his despicable act.
Thereafter, Rathore called the lady employee, several times during day and night times, to his private residence on the pretext of getting some medical care of a wound caused by a leech-bite in his private parts. However, the victim narrated the whole incident to her colleagues who were at the hostel taking care of sick children. “Amidst mounting anger and deep sympathy, the staff even thought of burning down the principal’s residence that night,” the ZSUN disclosed. However, it added that prudence suppressed the anger of the angry staff, since the prestige and reputation of the school was at stake.
Expressing strong distaste against Col Rathore, the ZSUN said that the proud Nagas should seriously consider if a person with such highly questionable moral integrity can in any way be role models for Naga children. “Men with personal integrity and moral values and women with indomitable spirit and strong character alone should be allowed to train Naga children on their way to the heights of success and glory,” the ZSUN asserted.
Besides, his sexual eccentricity, the ZSUN alleged that Col BS Rathore has been surreptitiously and successfully securing a way of life for many of his family members, while leaving the welfare of the school and its employees in the backburner. The ZSUN alleged that Col BS Rathore employed his ‘younger brother, nephew and brother-in-law’, who in return supported the principal as his henchmen for “terrorizing, manipulation and abusing the employees”.
Col Rathore’s younger brother, Amar Singh Rathore, has been employed as a driver though he was taught by other grade IV employees who are not employed and who knew not only about driving but also about maintenance of vehicles. “Perhaps many more of his relatives would have arrayed, had the NSF not taken keen interest in advising him to be fair and to follow the rules of the game,” it said.
Besides, strongly ‘questioning his credentials as an educationist’, the statement disclosed that a few parents have reported instances of physical harassment meted out to their wards by the principal under the influence of alcohol. “He has struck many students while they were practicing march pasts,” the ZSUN stated. Also, the ZSUN alleged that Col BS Rathore misled the parents with “misconstrued and fabricated reports” about interference of the ‘undergrounds’ in the affairs of the school, and told the parents that seven of his staff had deserted the school due to threat from underground groups and ‘village miscreants’.
However, some of the parents voluntarily conducted an independent enquiry into the matter and found that the employees had deserted the school “due to their unbearable physical and metal harassment they were subjected to at the hands of the principal”.
In this regard, the ZSUN informed that a one-time accountant in the school, Paul, left the school because of his ‘mistake’ of not attending a Puja at the principal’s residence, which was made mandatory by the principal for all the employees to attend. Another employee, a former UDC, Sanjay was forced to leave the school “as he opposed the principal for being extremely inconsistent and erratic”, while a grade IV employee, TB Chettri was ‘dismissed’ for very ‘flimsy reason’ that he could not get a bus from Medziphema on his way back from Kohima after an official duty. One grade IV employee, Bibyendu, was assaulted one night by Col Rathore and his brother.
Another two grade IV employees working at the Principal’s residence ran away ‘when their suffering became unendurable’. One of them, Daroga Paswan, was ‘falsely accused of stealing eatables from the principal’s residence’, while another, Anil was bashed up for letting a Naga enter the principal’s office while he was having his Puja, the ZSUN stated.
“It seems that the Indian Army of 21st century has a long way to march to civilization and culture, it still entertains such primitive, blind and fanatic ideas,” the ZSUN commented.
Doubting whether the establishment of the Sainik School is the realization of an enlightened dream or merely another political gimmick, the ZSUN said that since the school and its progress is the collective endeavor of the state government and the Indian army, “the army too cannot wash its hand of the whole sordid affairs of the school”.
“Is it possible for one to believe that Col Rathore’s weakness were unknown to the authorities who send him as an educationist? Or does it mean that they tacitly acknowledge their incompetence in the field of education? If they really mean what it meant by operation Sadbhavana, the people of Nagaland can in no way appreciate their approach which is quite detrimental to the Naga Society,” the statement affirmed.
The ZSUN, in this regard, said that if ‘they’ take the Nagas as still primitive people without intelligence and reason, then ‘they are barking up the wrong tree’. The ZSUN declared that “the Naga society will never stand for the culprit of innumerable abhorrent crimes who moves around with his spunk and urge while his victims are suppressed to ignominy and disgrace”.
The union, while stating that there are many who clamor for ‘blood and more blood to score their rivals, commented that there seems to be very few who upholds the honour of human lives especially of women, the voiceless down trodden and the promising young generation. “If not today, tomorrow, the Indian army will answer a satisfying and befitting answer,” the ZSUN said.
