Kolkata: A controversy erupted at Lake View School in Dhakuria on Wednesday after representatives of Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (ABRSM), an RSS-affiliated school teachers’ wing, staged a protest demanding the removal of portraits of communist figures — such as Karl Marx, Mao Zedong, and Ho Chi Minh — from the staff room. The school administration subsequently took down the portraits of Mao Tse-tung and Karl Marx.Members of the organisation arrived at the school in the afternoon and objected to images of Karl Marx, Mao Tse-tung and Ho Chi Minh being displayed while prominent Indian national icons — such as B R Ambedkar, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, APJ Abdul Kalam and President Droupadi Murmu — were absent. ABRSM representative Pradip Pal said: “After receiving complaints from parents, we visited the school on Monday and asked the teacher-in-charge to remove these photos. Today, we again requested the removal of these objectionable images, as these figures played no role in our nation-building.”Sudipta De, the teacher-in-charge, revealed that these images had been in the staff room for the last 20 years and promised that all such portraits would be cleared from the premises within seven days.Pal added that they have already informed officials from Kolkata district school education department about the issue. “There are several schools where portraits of communist leaders are still displayed to mislead students. Today, we did not remove any photos ourselves; the school authority did so on their own initiative. We want students to learn the true history of our nation’s building.”
