Alleged Human Rights Violation at Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Silchar; NHRC Initiates Probe against Teacher

Serious allegations have been levelled against a senior teacher of Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Silchar, with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) directing authorities to conduct an inquiry into the matter. A school that runs on Vedic values and the principles of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi allegedly harbours a teacher who behaves inappropriately with students. Former students of the school have told Barak Bulletin anonymously that the manner of harassment by this teacher ranges from physical to mental and even somewhat sexual. The matter became serious when a student of the 2023 batch killed himself, allegedly because of harassment by this teacher; a reference he used multiple times to threaten students, as per the report.

An enquiry into the matter has been initiated by the Cachar District Administration and the Human Rights Commission at the school.

The complaint was filed on March 30 by Virender Kumar Singh, Director of Mission Mukti Foundation, New Delhi. It accuses the teacher of repeated unprofessional conduct, including allegedly wasting teaching time on irrelevant activities, using abusive language, physically assaulting students, and pressuring them to join private tuition classes.

The NHRC, taking cognisance under Section 12 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, observed that the allegations prima facie indicate violations of students’ human rights. Notices have been issued to the Assam School Education Department, along with the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Cachar.

Following the NHRC directive, an enquiry team was constituted on April 7, led by an Executive Magistrate, along with the Circle Officer of Sadar Circle and officials from the police and district administration.

The team conducted an inquiry lasting over four hours, during which statements were recorded from several students, guardians, and former students of the school. The teacher in question, Bireshwar Bhattacharjee, who teaches Accountancy and Business Studies for Classes 11 and 12, was also reportedly interrogated by the team on the same day, inside the school premises.

Several former students, speaking to Barak Bulletin on condition of anonymity, have corroborated the allegations.

One former student alleged, “The allegations against Bireshwar sir are true. He would force us to join his tuition classes, and those who refused became targets. He used abusive language and even made foul remarks about our parents. During meditation periods, he would keep his belt open and beat students. One of our classmates was beaten with a belt. He even removed his shoes to threaten us with beating.”

The student further claimed that complaints made to the school authorities were allegedly ignored, and students were threatened with failure if they raised concerns.

Another former student alleged that students were required to submit medical certificates even for a single day’s absence, as he is the class teacher of 12 Commerce.

A female student alleged that the teacher once removed lipstick from a student’s face using his hands. In another incident, he allegedly took out a student’s ID card from her pocket himself to check her name, which has been termed inappropriate.

The complaint also mentions an incident where a boy was allegedly made to sit between two girls, and one girl’s hand was forcibly placed on the boy’s shoulder, an act described as highly objectionable.

The complaint further refers to a 2023 suicide case involving a student, Biprajit Singh. According to allegations, the student had been under severe mental distress after being asked to repeat Class 12 and was allegedly threatened with not receiving his admit card in the repeat year, too. He later died by suicide, reportedly out of frustration and humiliation.

A complainant wrote, “Sir (Bireshwar Bhattacharjee) once made me sit between girls and asked me to place my hand on one of them, a very objectionable and unprofessional behaviour. He even asked me to hold the hands of an unknown girl who was passing by the road and asked me to drop her home”.

Despite multiple attempts, the school principal, Samita Dutta, did not respond to calls or messages from Barak Bulletin at the time of filing this report.