Did not hurt, humiliate any student; interacted with them like a teacher: KT Jaleel

Former Kerala Minister KT Jaleel defended his conduct at a Palakkad student felicitation event after a child rights commission case was filed over alleged humiliation of students. Jaleel said he interacted like a teacher, denied causing harm and offered an apology if anyone was hurt

Thiruvananthapuram: Former Kerala Minister KT Jaleel on Tuesday said that he did not hurt or humiliate any student at a recent felicitation function in Palakkad and claimed that he only interacted with them like a teacher would.

Jaleel’s clarification comes in the wake of a case being registered against him by the state child rights commission for allegedly publicly humiliating students through his remarks during the event.

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According to a statement issued by the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the action was initiated based on visuals aired by television channels.

In the visuals, Jaleel was seen asking students who had secured A-plus grades in the Class 10 examination whether they knew the alphabet during his address.

He also allegedly pulled a student’s ear after calling the child onto the stage over an error in writing an address.

Explaining what happened, Jaleel, a CPI(M) leader, on Tuesday told reporters that since he was basically a teacher before joining politics, he always behaves as such and interacts with students in events involving them.

At the event in question, a function to felicitate students who had secured top marks from various municipal wards in Palakkad, he only interacted with the students like a teacher would, the CPI(M) leader claimed.

He said that he only highlighted issues like reduction in general reading habits among children and how it as become a society problem.

“They are good students and get good marks. But beyond academics, their reading habits are decreasing. If they do not read, they will not be aware of what is going on in the world around them. That is what I highlighted,” he explained.

Jaleel further said that he held the ear of a student in jest as the boy had made a mistake when writing his address in Hindi.

“I did not cause him any pain. You can see him smiling in the video. The child did not complain,” he claimed.

At the same time, he said that if anyone at the event felt they were humiliated by what he said, he would apologise for the same.

A former teacher, Jaleel had served as Higher Education Minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government (2016-21).

The Muslim Students Federation, the student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League, had demanded legal action against Jaleel, alleging that he had publicly humiliated students and that such behaviour was unacceptable.