BJP leader Madhavi Latha on Thursday claimed she was detained at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and prevented from meeting the family of a Class 2 student at the centre of a controversy over alleged Islamic religious homework assigned by a private school in the city.
In a post on social media, Latha said she was stopped after returning from Europe via Delhi while on her way to Success School. "Despite my intention to reach the people of my constituency and address the issues they are facing, I was not allowed to proceed," she wrote, adding that she remained committed to raising public concerns.
The controversy erupted after the parents of a six-year-old Hindu student alleged that their son returned home with homework instructing him to memorise the "1st and 2nd Kalma" and "Surah Fatiha", key Islamic prayers. The school later dismissed the teacher involved.
Speaking to NDTV, Latha questioned whether dismissing the teacher alone addressed the larger issue.
"One cannot force any religion on anybody. That was a second-class kid," she said, urging the Telangana government to clarify what legal action would be taken against the institution for allegedly violating constitutional principles. She argued that the matter reflected an "institutional issue" rather than an individual lapse and asked whether schools would react similarly if students were instructed to study the Bhagavad Gita.
At the same time, Latha expressed sympathy for the dismissed teacher, telling IANS that she should be reinstated because "the mistake was not the teacher's alone." She said the institution's environment had emboldened such actions and criticised the management for taking action only against a "poor Muslim woman" while avoiding broader accountability.
Meanwhile, police said the student's parents had informed them they were satisfied with the school's action against the teacher and had not filed a formal complaint. No criminal case has been registered so far.
The issue has also drawn sharp reactions from Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), both of whom demanded action against the school over the alleged assignment.
