The Bidar police in Karnataka questioned children of the Shaheen Primary and High School for the fourth time on Monday after the school management, the headmistress, and parents were booked by them for “sedition”.
The sedition case was slapped against them for making the children perform a play against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act that was passed in December.
The NewsMinute reporter Prajwal Bhat said on Twitter that the children were questioned inside a room by police officers in plain clothes in the presence of the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Bidar district.
Last week, a parent and the headmistress of the school were arrested for the play that was staged on January 21.
The police action came after a complaint filed by the ABVP that claimed that there were dialogues against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since then minor students of the school have been questioned by the police.
Bidar DSP Basaveshwara Hira refused to comment on the need for questioning minors over and over again about a play.
The school’s head Tauseef Madikeri told The NewsMinute, “It is simply harassment. We feel like we are being watched. As usual, the police vehicle turned up outside the school at 2 pm and the police including the DySP began interrogating students about the play.”
According to PTI, those arrested had been produced before a court and sent to judicial custody.
BJP-ruled states have seen violent crackdowns against anti-CAA protests, with citizens being muzzled in several ways. Karnataka’s Mangaluru had seen police violence against protesters in which two people were killed.
The police also named the deceased in the FIR along with 75 other people.
Huffpost India had reported on minors in UP being illegally detained by the police and tortured in custody.