WBCHSE president criticised for mentioning topper’s religion; Opposition infuriated

The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) President Mahua Das has received flak for highlighting the religion of the Class 12 results topper. On Thursday, Das told reporters that a Muslim girl from Murshidabad district secured 499 marks out of 500 in the state’s higher secondary examinations.

The political leaders and students organisations are demanding the removal of Das for mentioning the religion and not the name of the student. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that the move was part of TMC’s appeasement politics.

In a tweet, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya said, "In Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal, appeasement politics hit a new low, when a board official reduced academic achievement of a class 12th girl student to her religious identity… She repeatedly mentioned that the girl is a Muslim! One wonders what more these students have to endure?"

The leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also believed that Das should have avoided religion. "We will be happier if there is no attempt to flag the religious identity of a girl student. It is praiseworthy that a girl student secured the first rank, leaving behind boys," he noted.

Congress students' wing state unit president Sourabh Prasad demanded Mahua Das should issue a public apology or be relieved of her duties. "Honourable council president kept harping on the religious identity of the topper but refrained from mentioning her name," he said.

The Bengal Imams Association, in a statement urging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to remove WBCHSE president, said, "It is very shameful and unfortunate. We condemn this. Instead of naming the student, she chose to highlight her religion."

Meanwhile, a senior official told PTI that Das just wanted to highlight the fact that a girl from a minority community fought challenges in front of her to become a topper.

West Bengal HS Result 2021

The West Bengal Higher Secondary Class 12 results were announced on Thursday afternoon. The marks were given based on a student's previous performances as exams could not be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Das had informed that over eight lakh students were slated to appear for the examinations and 97.69% have passed. The board president said 3,19,327 examinees secured first division marks or more than 60% marks. The number of students with O grades is 9,013.

(With PTI inputs)