A controversy has erupted after a private school in Jharkhand asked its kindergarten students to learn the national anthems of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Amid allegations against the teacher of having an “anti-national” mindset, the administration has launched a probe, while the school has withdrawn the class curriculum with immediate effect.

The incident took place at Ghatsila in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand when the students of LKG and UKG were last week asked by their teacher to learn practice national anthems of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

During their online class, the teacher also shared the lyrics and YouTube videos of the two national anthems in the school WhatsApp group for the students and parents, The Hindustan Times reported.

After the ‘home work’ came to the notice of the parents, they raised their objections with the school management.

The matter was raised by former MLA and official BJP spokesperson Kunal Sarangi. Following this, the district administration constituted a two-member team to investigate the matter and submit a report.

Parents’ association president Ajay Rai demanded action against the teacher. “We are not going to tolerate if any school tries to promote anti-national content,” Ajay Rai said.

The teacher said she only followed the school management’s direction. “The objective was to enhance the general knowledge of the students,” the teacher was quoted as saying by HT.

The school principal has apologized and said they have withdrawn both the anthems from the home work for students with immediate effect after protests.

Meanwhile, education minister Jagannath Mahto has said appropriate action will be taken if the allegations against the school and the teacher are proved true.