A teacher at a Kolkata school has claimed he “forced” a student to remove a tilak

According to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, an FIR has been registered against the teacher for “hurting religious sentiments” and “humiliating” the student. | Photo credit: ANI

A school teacher in West Bengal’s Kolkata has been suspended and police have registered a case against her for allegedly asking a student to wipe sandalwood tilak off his forehead.

According to officials, a teacher from Holy Mission English Medium School has been suspended by the school authority following a complaint by the parents of a Class 5 student. A video of the student talking about the incident went viral on social media a few days ago.

“A missionary school teacher regularly harassed a student for putting chandan tilak on his forehead. The student was humiliated for this every day and told to remove the tilak and wash his face. This will not be allowed in Bengal,” Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said at a public event recently.

He said wearing tilak or tulsi beads is a part of tradition and cannot be discouraged.

According to the Chief Minister, an FIR has been registered against the teacher for “hurting religious sentiments” and “humiliating” the student. Meanwhile, the school has also set up an internal inquiry committee to investigate the incident.

Govt. the employee was suspended for posting on PM

Another education department employee working at Bikash Bhawan in Salt Lake was also suspended by the government for posting an objectionable post about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign trips on social media.

“What she wrote about the Prime Minister is unacceptable. No one can write such a thing about the Prime Minister. This matter will be strictly investigated,” he said.

Soon after coming to power, the BJP government issued a directive to all civil servants prohibiting them from publicly criticizing any policy or activity of the government.

Published – 06 Sep 2026 0:44 IST