Explained: Allama Iqbal and his role in the creation of Pakistan 

Last week, Furqan Ali, a headmaster of a government primary school in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh was suspended after his students recited a poem written by Muhammad Iqbal in 1902 titled, “Lab pe aati hai dua”. This happened after a complaint was filed by local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers who alleged that this poem by Iqbal is usually recited in madrasas and that asking students to recite it in a government school is “anti-national”.

An order issued by the local Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Devendra Swarup states (translated from Hindi): “As per a viral video on social media, it came to our knowledge that at Primary School, Ghayaspur, students are being made to sing a different prayer other than the commonly accepted one. School headmaster Mohammad Furkan Ali prima facie has been found responsible for this and thus he has been suspended…”

On Saturday the BSA revoked Ali’s suspension, transferring him to another school on “humanitarian grounds”.