By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,
Thiruvananthapuram: Before the heat of the head-scarf row in Alappuzha subsides, a school in the state capital has reportedly barred its Muslim students from wearing a head-scarf. The state Director of Public Instruction APM Haneesh has directed the DDE of Thiruvananthapuram district to probe into the issue and submit a report immediately. The parents of the students who were forced to take off their head-scarves had approached the DPI with a complaint. The DPI would take necessary measures on the matter after getting the report.
The new incident took place in the St Philomena Schhol at Poonthura in Thiruvananthapuram where some teachers forcefully took off the head-scarves of certain Muslim students reportedly. The parents of the students have filed complaint with the city Police Commissioner. Reports say that the school has not allowed students to wear the head-scarf for the past 29 years. About more than 60% of the students of the school are Muslims and the school has been fining students who wore the head-scarf in its premises. When some parents approached the school at the time of the head-scarf row in Alappuzha, the school authorities informed that there was no ban on the head-scarf in the school’s rules. But when students wore the head-scarf to the school, the principal reportedly said it would not be allowed and some teachers forcefully took off the students’ scarves. The school authorities then repeated in the PTA meeting which followed that head-scarves could not be allowed. The parents then approached the City Police Commissioner with complaint.
There are also reports that the school authorities said that the school had not given any direction to its students banning the scarf and that parents have not complained on the matter. The school added that certain forces were deliberately creating problems. The school authorities had not barred students from wearing the scarf yesterday when the government officials visited the school for probe.
Strong measures should be taken against the school authorities who ban the dressing style of Muslim students, said Kanthapuram AP Aboobaker Musliyar, national general secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyathul Ulema. The SYS state committee asked the government to close down schools that deny the religious freedom agreed upon by the Indian Constitution. Other Muslim organizations like the PFI and SKSSF also have condemned the action of the school.