Indian School Bahrain AGM ends in violence

The Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of the Indian School Bahrain (ISB) held today at their Isa Town campus ended in chaos.

This was the first meeting after the new Executive Committee took over the office earlier this year.

The meeting was scheduled to begin at 8am.

However when the General Secretary Shemily John (also a parent) arrived with her husband Abraham Samuel, a group of parents who support the opposition panel United Parents Panel (UPP) stopped them.

They argued that according to an AGM rule, not more than one parent was allowed to be present at the meeting and demanded that Mr Samuel leave the premises, refusing to begin the meeting unless he does.

However Mr Samuel pointed out that the rule mentioned only one parent was allowed to vote when it came to taking a decision at the AGM and that any parent could attend the meeting.

This ensued in the first chaos today as parents divided themselves into two groups - UPP members and Progressive Parents Alliance (PPA) members who support the current EC – and fought on the issue.

Finally Mr Samuel attended the meeting.

As the meeting began, UPP members argued that the EC has no right to continue in office unless the school’s former chairman Abraham John was inducted into the committee.

A very heated discussion ensued on this matter between the UPP and the PPA (who protested this move).

Eventually the UPP members approached the dais where the current chairman Prince S Natarajan was speaking from and began shouting slogans, refusing to let him speak further.

Soon PPA members came to the defence of Mr Natarajan and this resulted in a physical fight between the parents.

As the situation seemed to get out of control, some parents called the security personnel who were able to restore some calm.

The chairman then resumed his talk but in between his speech, the parents were arguing and shouting.

Despite all this chaos, Mr Natarajan completed his speech.

All these happenings took place in the presence of a representative of the Education Ministry.

Meanwhile UPP members demanded the acceptance of Mr John into the current EC saying that as per the school’s constitution a member recommended by the opposition must be included in the committee.

However the EC argues that since Mr John no longer has a child studying in the school made him ineligible to be in the school board.

Before the UPP chairman Ajay Krishnan and his group walked out of the meeting, he said that the present EC’s actions were totally against democracy and it was the first time in the history of the school’s AGM that security personnel had to interfere.

He promised to complain to the Education Ministry regarding decisions taken by the EC at unauthorised meetings.

Mr Krishnan also alleged that the running of the school was unofficially being done by the Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam and that the EC was holding the meeting with support from ‘vagabonds’ from the Samajam.

Meanwhile PPA convener T Sreedharan alleged that the underhanded motive of the UPP was ‘business’.

He said that the UPP began disrupting the meeting when the discussion on the betterment of the school’s educational quality and future aspects began.

This it self shows that their interest does not lie in the benefit of the school but rather in vested business interests.

Mr Sreedharan stressed that the school’s constitution clearly states that a person who was not a parent cannot be part of the EC and this was why Abraham John cannot be accepted.

He continued that Mr John was trying to enter the committee by hook or crook in order to try and cover up and even destroy evidence of the financial irregularities he committed while he was the chairman.  

He also asked why the UPP were adamant that the EC take in a non-parent despite there being many other eligible candidates in the opposition.

This itself proves their ulterior motive.

Caption : PPA parents disrupting Mr Natarajan's speech