posters of meritorious students from a private school started making rounds on the internet. The shocking fact about these posters was that all the girl students featured were wearing Hijab, mandatory in Islam. Some of these girls were Hindus and Jains and hence it sparked controversy.
A private school in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh has been accused of forcing Hindu girl students to wear hijab. After the complaint of Hindu organizations, investigation has started in this matter. After the incident came to light, there was an uproar in the entire city. Hindu organizations staged a sit-in in front of the collector’s office demanding cancellation of the school’s registration.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairman Priyank Kanoongo was among those who flagged the case on Twitter on Tuesday, alleging that it has received a complaint that a school in MP’s Damoh district was forcing Hindu and other non-Muslim female students to wear a burka and hijab.
According to officials, the complainants claim that Hindu girl students in a private school in Damoh are being forced to wear a dress that includes the hijab. The statement of MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra has also come to the fore on this matter. He has said that no complaint has been received so far. But considering the seriousness of the matter, the Superintendent of Police has been ordered to investigate. He has further said that the District Education Officer has already investigated this matter.
School Education Minister of Madhya Pradesh Inder Singh Parmar has also issued a statement on this matter. He has said that if the school management is forcing Hindu girls to wear hijab, then Damoh collector should take action on it. They have demanded that it should also be investigated whether permission has been taken from the family of the girl students. He further said that the dress of government schools in Madhya Pradesh is fixed, but there is no such guideline regarding private schools. A policy will be made on this issue after talking to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. If there is a need to file an FIR in this matter, that too should be done.
On the matter, Damoh Collector Mayank Agarwal says that earlier investigation has been done regarding the allegation of conversion, but this allegation was not found to be true. The Collector further said that following the instructions of the Home Minister, a team of Tehsildar, District Education Officer and police officers is being formed to investigate the matter.
