Hijab Row: Report sought on Pondicherry govt teacher's objection to hijab in class

PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry government's Directorate of School Education has asked the head of a government school in Ariyankuppam here to enquire into the incident of alleged objection by a teacher to a Muslim girl wearing hijab while attending classes. A spokesperson of the Directorate told PTI on Tuesday that complaints were received from student outfits and other organisations to the teacher objecting to the student wearing hijab while attending the class.

“We want to know what has actually happened and further course of action would be decided after receiving a report from the school,” the spokesperson said. The Students Federation of India’s Puducherry president Swaminathan said the girl had been attending classes wearing hijab for the last three years. “Why is there objection now to the girl wearing hijab,” Swaminathan asked.

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He would present a memorandum to the chief minister on Wednesday seeking action against the teacher for objecting to the student. Swaminathan said that there were also complaints that some schools in Veerampattinam, Embalam and Tirukanoor were encouraging 'drills' similar to the ones conducted in RSS programmes. “We want a detailed probe into this also and prevent intrusion of saffronisation of institutions with the active encouragement of a section of officials,” he said.

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The hijab issue began at a government PU College in Udupi, Karnataka, in January where six students who attended classes wearing headscarves were asked to leave the campus. This later spread across the Karnataka state, with Hindu students, backed by right-wing outfits, protesting against wearing of hijab by wearing saffron scarves. The ruling BJP government supported the uniform-related rules being enforced by educational institutions while the opposition Congress alleged the 'hijab' controversy is part of a conspiracy to poison the minds of the young people.