November 25, 2025
By Nazakat Ali
THATTA
Sanwan Maheshwari – the father of the Hindu girl students, who had accused their school headmistress earlier this week, of religious coercion – has now been suspended from his municipal job as a sweeper. The move comes following widespread protests against the headmistress’s suspension.
Maheshwari, who serves as chairman of the school committee and works as a sanitation worker for the Municipal Committee, was removed from his position after holding a press conference without official permission. This comes as the small town of Mirpur Sakro in Thatta district witnessed complete shutdowns and escalating tensions over allegations that have divided the community.
The allegations
The controversy came to light when several Hindu girl students and their parents held a press conference at the Mirpur Sakro Press Club on Friday, November 21, accusing headmistress Gulnaz Jokhio of attempting to forcibly convert them to Islam. The Education Department of Thatta responded swiftly by suspending the headmistress pending investigation after Provincial Education Minister Sardar Shah took note of the incident.
Washita, one of the Hindu students, told Voicepk, “When we went to school, the teacher said she wanted to teach biology. Both matric and ninth-grade classes were there. When we went to the classroom, ma’am taught biology and then she taught Islamiyat. Some things seemed good to us, but then ma’am started saying bad things about our religion. She said that Hindus will go to hell, their parents will also go to hell. They worship idols. When they go up to God, what will they say? When God asks them whom they worshipped, where will your idols come from?”
The news of the allegations spread rapidly on social media, creating tension throughout the town.
Community backlash
The headmistress’s suspension triggered immediate protests from citizens, social organisations, and the business community of Mirpur Sakro. A complete shutter-down strike was observed in Thatta city, with protesters demanding the suspension be revoked and a complete investigation conducted before any decision is made.
Ahmad Shah Bukhari, a resident of Mirpur Sakro, stated: “Headmistress Gulnaz Jokhio has been teaching at the same school for thirteen years and has never received any complaints. Obviously, minor disputes happen in a school, but that doesn’t mean one should go to the press club and hold a press conference. In my opinion, this happened according to a pre-planned strategy.”
‘Gulnaz was also pressurising me to convert’
Meanwhile, Sanwan Maheshwari, father of the affected students and chairman of the school committee, claims the headmistress subjected his daughters to mental torture on religious grounds and talked about making them “better Muslims.”
“She had been asking me to become Muslim for quite some time,” Maheshwari said. “My other daughter Kranti, who is currently in eleventh grade, was also asked by Gulnaz to become Muslim when she studied at this school.” He added that he had asked his daughters to file complaints with other teachers as well.
According to officials, Maheshwari was suspended because he is a government employee who held a press conference without permission.
Community divided over headmistress’s suspension
On the other side, numerous people from the school and city maintain that Gulnaz Jokhio has been posted there for the past 13 years and has always worked for educational improvement. According to them, there has never been an atmosphere of religious tension in the school or the city before.
Iqbal Khaskheli, Chairman of the Town Committee Mirpur Sakro, explained, “What I have observed about the headmistress is that she always thinks about the school and repeatedly calls me saying, ‘Brother, there is this problem or that problem in the school.’ When the girls’ center was shifted from Sakro to Ahmad Khan Kalmati, she showed great dedication then too. Regarding the school, I have found her very serious. This was just one topic that they have turned into an issue.”
Muhammad Akram Khaskheli a resident also commented on the matter.
“It was a school matter, our daughters are studying there. These matters should have been kept within the school. What is happening to the teacher is completely wrong. This is a game of a conspiratorial group, a game for their own interests. This same teacher, nothing happened in thirteen years, she never raised any Islamic topic in thirteen years. Obviously, it was an Islamiyat period, she also said that whoever wants to sit should sit and listen and act, and those who want to leave have permission.”
‘Hindu students were given permission to skip Islamiyat class’
Headmistress Gulnaz Jokhio maintains that the allegations are baseless. According to her, Hindu students attended Islamiyat periods of their own free will and also participated in Naat recitation. She says there is no question of any kind of coercion.
“I had given them permission that if you want to skip the lecture, you can go, but they didn’t leave. After that, school ended at two o’clock. The next day they came in uniform, the children came properly. They attended class, attended the first class. Until about ten or eleven o’clock, I think, their father came to complain,” Gulnaz claimed that she had nominated Maheshwari as chairman of the school management committee as several of his daughters were studying there.
“If there was a minority issue, why would I seat this poor man in the school management committee,” she said, adding that one of his daughters is a prefect in her school. “We never ignore minorities, no teacher does such things.”
The question emerging from the situation still remains, whether it is really a religious matter or is there another reason behind it. In a peaceful town like Mirpur Sakro, this sensitive matter has now become a test for state institutions. There is only one demand: transparent investigation, identification of responsibility based on facts, and a decision based on justice.