Mumbai: Petition seeks reinstatement of principal sacked over tweets

Parveen Shaikh, former principal, The Somaiya School; (right) The Somaiya School in Vidyavihar East

People claiming to be well-wishers of Parveen Shaikh, the former principal of The Somaiya School in Vidyavihar, have come together to move an online petition on Change.org 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 made.

Since May 25, the petition has exceeded its initial goal of a thousand signatures, with 1,500 people having signed it by the evening of May 26.

In the petition addressed to the Somaiya Trust, the group describes itself as "People from all walks of life who believe that the termination of Ms Parveen Shaikh is unfair". The plea reads: "We 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 values.

We 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 made."

‘Please reconsider decision'

The petition further reads: "We believe your action amounts to submission to the pressure seemingly generated by the website known for its skewed, biased and provocative views.

We 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 Shaikh."

Parents speak

While Shaikh has already started exploring legal options for herself against the termination by the school management, a parent, on the condition of anonymity, said, "The 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 this."

Another parent said, "We 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 website."

Case background

On May 7, days after Shaikh revealed that she was asked to resign by the institute's management over a series of tweets, the Somaiya Trust announced that it had "discontinued association" with her as her social media activities were misaligned with the values and ethos promoted by the Vidyavihar school.

On 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, "I saw it on Twitter before my email." Shaikh added that she submitted her response to the management's inquiry by 1 pm on Monday.

As per reports, Shaikh, via her X handle @ParveenShaikh1, liked and made comments on "pro-Palestine, pro-Hamas, anti-Hindu, and anti-Modi regime tweets". In response to one of the posts by a handle, Rants&Roast, asking followers to caption a picture where PM Modi is seen bending a little while standing next to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Shaikh replied, "Tommy fetch." In a post dated June 2022, with a link to an article wherein Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan stated that Qatar's demand for a public apology over remarks on the Prophet Mohammed is not important, Shaikh replied, "They have sold their soul to the devil." She has also been accused of sympathising with Umar Khalid, an accused in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots ‘larger conspiracy' case.

In the wake of allegations against Shaikh, the Somaiya Trust's management issued a statement posted on social media platforms, stating, "We 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 matter." 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 resignation.

This was also the first time that the management issued a public statement regarding the dismissal of Shaikh, acknowledging her "personal social media activities" as the reason for the same.

April 26
Day principal was allegedly asked to resign