Author: IANS
Publication: The Times of India
Date: October 13, 2004
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/883418.cms
Muslim girls at a co-educational
high school in Madhya Pradesh have started appearing for their classes
in veils, leaving school authorities in a dilemma.
The controversy started when two
Muslim girls came to the Government High School in Betul wearing veils
last Friday. Taking the veils to be a violation of the school uniform,
their class teacher did not allow them to attend, and sent them home.
The next day all the 56 Muslim girls
in the school of 400 students appeared in veils. School authorities could
not muster the courage to turn them all away and so allowed them to attend.
But the principal, Pushplata Chaudhury,
held a meeting with some of the girls' guardians the same day. The guardians
said they would decide on the matter only after discussing it with leaders
of the community.
On Monday the girls again appeared
for their classes in veils.
Unable to decide on the sensitive
issue, Chaudhury wrote letters to the district collector and the education
department seeking directions.
In her letter, she has cited a number
of reasons why veils shouldn't be allowed inside the school.
Allowing veils would increase the
chances of unwanted people entering the school stealthily and causing trouble.
Girls of other communities would also start appearing in their traditional
dresses, violating the school's dress code.
And veils would also cause a problem
during examinations, she wrote.
