Teacher fired after posting WhatsApp status supporting Pakistan's T20 win against India; issues apology

After a school teacher of a Neerja Modi school in Udaipur was dismissed from service for uploading a video supporting Pakistan following their recent T20 win against India, she apologised for hurting the sentiments of people. In a statement given to a local news channel in Udaipur, Nafeesa Ataari, said, "I am not at all a Pakistan supporter and the status that I uploaded was in regards to a friendly bet placed with my family. We split into two teams during the match and both teams supported India and Pakistan. Since my team was supporting Pakistan, which won the match, I posted the status on WhatsApp." The status read 'Jeet Gaye...we won'.

One of the parents, who grew furious after seeing this WhatsApp status, had questioned Nafeesa. The parents questioned her support of Pakistan, to which she replied in affirmation. The parents subsequently called the school management and lodged their objection. After the matter came to light, a few ABVP members entered the school's premises and hoisted the tricolour. Two social organisations have lodged a complaint against the teacher at Surajpole and Sukher police stations.

Nafeesa was heavily criticised for her post on social media. Nafeesa also explained that she took the message of the parents as a joke, initially, because of the emoji at the end of the message. "I am an Indian and I love India as much as anybody else. I realised my mistake later and immediately deleted the status. If anyone is hurt, I'm very sorry for that." 

After the incident, the school management terminated her. The letter issued on October 25 says that the school has terminated the service of Nafeesa Ataari as per the decision taken in a meeting of the Trust that runs the school.