Students Protest Against Administration For Disallowing Wearing Abaya
Srinagar, June 17: Students from Delhi Public School located at Athawajan Srinagar staged a protest inside the school premises on Friday demanding recall of a lady teacher who according to protesting students was forced to resign for wearing Abaya (Hijab).
Insiders said that students from all classes assembled in school premises and held a peaceful sit-in. While castigating the action of the incumbent Principal, the students alleged that she not only demoralized the victim teacher but also misbehaved with her for simply wearing headscarf and Abaya. “This is not France but Muslim majority state and you can’t issue diktat that are against the norms of our religion,” a group of students said.
Narrating the incident, the students said that, “the Principal of the school didn’t like the Islamic dress code of our Biology teacher. She was asked to change her dress code, but she refused and preferred to resign. We can’t say our teacher resigned but she was virtually forced to do so,” they said.
The protesting students while demanding the recall of the said teacher threatened that they will continue to protest if school authorities do not concede. “We have decided to protest again on Monday if the Principal didn’t revoke her order,” they said.
Meanwhile, the students of the Delhi Public School took to social networking sites including facebook, whatsapp and twitter condemning the action of the school Principal. “Today our Bio teacher got fired just because she was wearing abbaya. I want to quote the line of our Principal Mrs Kusum Warikoo that, “I don’t like this dress. Choose between your dress and job,” an agitated student posted on social media.
Another student vent his anger by posting that, “Why they have problem with Islamic dress code when we never object the way they (non-Muslims) dress up.”
The school authorities preferred to remain tight lipped over the issue. Efforts to contact Principal of the school did not materialize.