Indian state revokes school license over hijab controversy

India's Madhya Pradesh government has revoked a private school’s license in Damoh following allegations that female students were forced to wear hijab.

Last week, the Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School, came to the limelight after it posted on its wall a poster to congratulate its board exam toppers, which also carried images of hijab clad girls.

Reacting to the posters, various right-wing Hindutva outfits including the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a right-wing Hindu organization, and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a right-wing Hindu students’ organization, demanded the de-recognition of the school, alleging that the school made the non-Muslim girls also wear the hjab.

Interestingly, no family member of the girl students of the school in Damoh lodged any complaint.

There were also allegations that the students were made to sing verses penned by Muhammad Iqbal, a South Asian Pakistani Urdu poet.

Iqbal, the author of “Sare jahan se achha Hindustan hamara” (Better than the entire world, is our India), previously came into controversy after one of his poems, was sung in a school in Uttar Pradesh.

The poem is a common prayer song in Indian schools and carries the word “Allah” in it, and translates to “O Lord, protect me from evil, guide me to the path that leads to the good.”

Later the school principals along with another staff member were suspended in Bareilly by the state education department.

Indian cinema under Hindutva influence normalizing anti-Muslim hate

Indian movie, The Kerala Story, has not only drawn criticism for its factual imprecision and the wrong portrayal of Muslims, but it also appears to feed on the growing trend of anti-Muslim hate in the country with the second largest Muslim population

This came after the VHP lodged a complaint against the school claiming that the act “hurt the sentiments of Hindus” and that the teachers involved in the recital were “preparing the students for conversion.”

Following the controversy in the Damoh school, the Damoh District Collector Mayank Agrawal constituted a high-powered committee to probe the allegations leveled against the school.

As a result, on Friday evening, the district education department struck off the registration of the school that had 1,208 students but did not mention hijab as the reason for the suspension of its registration.

“Ganga Jamuna School in Damoh has been found not complying with the norms set by the state education department, and therefore a decision has been taken to derecognize its registration with immediate effect,” read the notification.

Last year in February, a large controversy erupted in India’s southern state of Karnataka, after some Muslim students of a junior college who wanted to wear hijab to classes were denied entry on the grounds that it was a violation of the college’s uniform policy.

Later, the state government intervened and banned hijab in schools and colleges throughout the state.

Several educational institutions cited this order and denied entry to Muslim girls wearing the hijab.

However, the newly formed Congress government in Karnataka has said the government will uplift the ban.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk