Nizamia Islamic School takes a stand against bullying

In the wake of a widely shared video showing a violent bullying incident at a Pietermaritzburg school, Nizamia Islamic School on Tuesday hosted an event urging pupils to choose kindness and reject discrimination, as religious and education leaders warned of the lasting harm caused by bullying. According to principal Mohamed Saeed, the event was prompted by the school’s new policies, which provide stronger safeguards against bullying and discrimination. Mufti Luqmaan Desai said discrimination is not an issue that affects one race, but a human issue that must be dealt with decisively.

Desai added that every single religious text discourages discrimination of any kind. Quoting the Quran, Desai said “the most virtuous amongst you are not those that come from a certain background or tribe but the most virtuous amongst you are the most upright, virtuous and God conscious”. Shri Vishnu Primary School principal Roy Samaroo said that pupils must be cognisant of the harms that bullying inflicts on its victims.

“When pupils feel ashamed of who they are or where they are from, they are unable to meaningfully participate in the classroom or absorb what their teachers are saying,” Samaroo said. In the video, about seven boys are seen inside a locked classroom, while one pupil repeatedly slaps another before turning and striking a second boy with a belt. KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka has condemned the incident and confirmed that many of the pupils in the video have since been suspended.