The Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) of Karur on Tuesday launched an inquiry into a complaint of inappropriate behavior by a female dance teacher of Karur Government Sangeet Vidyalaya against Bharatnatyam dancer A Zakir Hussain, who is also a consultant to district government music schools. ,
In a complaint to Tamil Nadu’s Director of Arts and Culture, the dance teacher alleged that Mr Hussain misbehaved with the students by questioning the quality of dance being taught to them when he inspected the school on February 28. At one point, he summoned her to be taken to the headmaster’s room and performed some dance activities by placing her hands on her. He asked her to watch his performance on YouTube to learn the nuances of the dance. She was hurt by his behavior and felt humiliated because everyone’s attention was on her when she came out of the room.
Based on the instructions of District Collector T. Prabhu Shankar, Karur RDO S. Balasubramaniam visited the school on Tuesday and questioned the complainant and others. He said that soon the report would be submitted to the collector.
Responding to the complaint, Mr Hussain told The Hindu that he was appalled by the complaint and called it a concoction to tarnish his image and reputation. He had submitted a petition to the Director of Arts and Culture, seeking setting up of an inquiry committee as per the Supreme Court guidelines in the Visakha case, to bring out the truth of the complaint.