A complaint has been submitted to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking an independent investigation into the alleged exposure of students at Shantiniketan High School, Doodhbowli, Hyderabad, to an undisclosed NGO and foreign political messaging during a compulsory morning assembly held on 8 July 2026.
Filed by NGO watchdog Legal Rights Protection Forum, the complaint alleges that hundreds of minor students were addressed by a representative of an unidentified NGO during school hours without transparency regarding the organisation’s identity, objectives or affiliations. It contends that the incident raises serious concerns over children’s rights, institutional accountability, parental transparency and the possible misuse of an educational institution for activities unrelated to its educational purpose.
According to the complaint, videos and photographs that later surfaced on social media allegedly showed Iranian national flags being distributed to students and a poster depicting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei being displayed during the programme alongside references to recent developments concerning Iran. The complaint argues that the school’s own clarification admits that an external NGO representative was permitted to address students and that Iranian flags and a poster were brought to the campus, thereby exposing serious lapses in institutional supervision.
The complaint states that even if the school’s explanation is accepted, it establishes that an outsider was allowed unrestricted access to impressionable children without proper verification of the programme’s contents, materials or objectives. It also questions why the school failed to disclose the NGO’s identity, registration details, office-bearers, funding sources or even the guest speaker’s credentials, arguing that the omission prevents independent scrutiny.
The complainant further questions why the assembly focused on the deaths of children in Minab, Iran, an incident that occurred more than four months earlier. It argues that the school has disclosed no academic necessity, curricular relevance or government direction for conducting such a programme and asks why a foreign geopolitical event was chosen instead of programmes based on constitutional values, child rights or humanitarian issues relevant to India. The complaint also seeks an inquiry into whether the timing of the event was linked to international attention surrounding Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral ceremonies.
The complaint urges the NHRC to direct the Telangana government to identify the NGO, investigate its funding, affiliations and activities, examine CCTV footage and other records, determine whether similar programmes were conducted in other schools, and frame guidelines to prevent external organisations from exposing schoolchildren to political, ideological or religious messaging unrelated to the curriculum.
In response, Shantiniketan High School stated that the guest had sought permission to deliver a brief talk on “Humanity and World Peace” in connection with children killed in a school bombing in Minab, Iran. The school maintained that the speech contained no political content, said the Iranian flags and poster were brought and later removed by the guest without prior disclosure, and described the controversy as arising from a “fabricated narrative.” It also apologised if the incident had inadvertently hurt public sentiments.
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