Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Tear Books of Anne Frank and Malala Yousafzai In Ahmedabad

Key Points:

STUDENTS AND YOUTH COLLECTIVE (SYCA), Ahmedabad organised a book-reading session at AUDA Garden in Vastrapur. There were around 50 people who attended the session. The controversy began after a canteen incident at Anand Niketan School happened on August 11, 2026, the school also organized the book-reading session. The controversy expanded when the school included the books of Malala Yousafzai and Anne Frank in their library. SYCA saw that the members of Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) wore saffron scarves and disrupted the session while carrying baseball bats and sticks.

They tore apart the copies of ‘I Am Malala and ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ at the session and took the confrontation to a violent level.

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Connection Between the Canteen Controversy and the  Book-Reading Session Ruckus

It all began with an incident at Anand Niketan School canteen in Ahmedabad. An object that looked like a glass was found in the food served at the school canteen on August 11, 2026. A student from eighth-grade swallowed it and was rushed to the hospital. Parents of the student protested and alleged the school of mismanagement.

The school added two books of Malala Yousafzai and Anne Frank to their library. And on August 27, 2026, the book-reading session incident shifted its focus to this incident and the Hindu activists of Bajrang Dal and VHP questioned the presence of a book published by a Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai. The activists climbed over the gates of the school and chanted “Jai Shree Ram” slogans. The men in Bhagwa displayed posters with slogans like “Knowledge of Swami Vivekananda and the Vedas, this is India’s honour”, “When will you teach the knowledge of the Vedas?”, “Why are there non-Hindu teachers in a Hindu school?” and “Why are children being given Islamic knowledge instead of education?”. 

R M Chaudhary, Ahmedabad district education officer issued notices to the school over the both cases: the canteen incident and the book-reading session ruckus. In the first notice, the complaint alleged the school of forcing children to read such books and the other notice pointed out the education department to ensure the quality of the food served to the children. According to a report by Alt News, an official from the district education office (DEO) alleged that some parents complained about the school’s extra-charges over the purchasing of the two books. The copy of the complaint was sought but the official didn’t provide it to Alt News.

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School’s Book Club Included the Two Books While SYCA Defends the Books

The spokesperson of the school spoke to Alt News and responded to both the incidents, the school has dismissed the operator of the canteen and also closed down the canteen. Whereas, they removed the two books: ‘I Am Malala’ and ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ from the school library. He also assured that the school is making changes to the canteen and strengthening their safety standards to prevent such incidents.

And on the book controversy, the spokesperson denied the presence of both the books in the school’s curriculum and that it was included by the school’s book club in their reading list. He added more and told that apart from these books, there were books by Veer Savarkar and the Dalai Lama that were removed after a notice issued by the education officer came in. The school denied the library books additional fee allegations and said that the amount was the fixed amount used to cover routine expenses such as stationery, lab materials, activities and trips for education purposes under the Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC).

Few teachers claimed that alongside Malala Yousafzai’s books the list also included books on Swami Vivekananda, Dr S Radhakrishnan, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and books on Rani Lakshmibai. A teacher even said the school promoted no religion instead promoted ‘humanity.’

SYCA defended the two books during the controversy and said that such books should be treated as valuable resources for the students instead of branding them as “objectionable.” ‘I Am Malala’ began a campaign for girls’ education and rights while ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ took place during the Holocaust and documented Anne Frank’s experiences. They further argued that the schools should be a space for critical thinking, discussion and debate not only for formal education, the students should have the accessibility to such books for encouragement and engaging themselves with different vast ideas.

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