Dwarka BJP councillor, who issued the order, justified the move saying it will ensure that incidents like Mustafabad, where a girl complained of being asked to remove hijab, do not occur in schools under her jurisdiction.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Amidst hijab row in Karnataka where high court is hearing into the case of Muslim girls barred from entering schools with their headscarves on, a section of schools in the National Capital under the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation on Thursday ordered ban on hijab inside the premises.
According to a report appearing in the Indian Express, the chairperson of the education committee of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) issued an order asking officials not to allow students wearing “religious attire” inside schools. The order comes two days after a Class VI student of a school in Mustafabad in northeast Delhi reportedly alleged that she was asked by her teacher to remove hijab.
Muslim students and teachers in Karnataka are being forced to remove hijab to get entry into colleges and schools. The practice started after the Karnataka High Court issued an interim order on February 10 barring students from wearing “religious clothes” in educational institutions till it passes a verdict on the petitions challenging the hijab ban in schools and colleges. The order is in effect a discrimination against hijab wearing Muslims.
The hearings into the case are being conducted on a daily basis.
Back in Delhi, according to the Indian Express report, Nitika Sharma, a BJP councillor from Dwarka, told officials that parents sending children to school in “religious attire” is “not right at all”. Such an action, she added, can build a “mentality of inequality”.
Defending the move, the order by Sharma says, “School uniform is prescribed for children studying in the primary schools running under the SDMC, in which they look very beautiful. From time to time, the corporation keeps changing the colour of the uniform, due to which there is no inferiority complex between the rich and poor children studying in school.”
The order further asks the school officials to ensure that children wear non-uniform clothes only during competitions or festivals. “On normal days, students should be present in school only in the school uniform.”
When asked about Sikh students who wear turban, she said the order exonerates them. “Turbans are needed to tie hair. In every school, Sikhs come in turban and no correlation should be drawn.”
She justified the order with the rationale that it ensures incidents like Mustafabad do not occur in schools under her jurisdiction.
Sharma told The Indian Express that she wrote a letter to ensure that incidents like Mustafabad do not occur in schools under her jurisdiction.
In a video shared by Clarion India on its Twitter account, the Mustafabad girl is heard saying, “Teachers told me not to come to the class wearing this scarf. Don’t be like your mother, and don’t come to school wearing the scarf.”
The Delhi Government has, however, said that the hijab issue was being politicised and that they have no plans to ban hijab in schools run under its watch.
“Delhi schools have an excellent arrangement to teach students,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said at a press conference. “In our schools, students of all religions and castes are treated with dignity. There are no restrictions from our side and their traditions are respected.”
