A school in Srinagar, Delhi Public School (DPS), has come under a fire for asking a 29-year old biology female teacher not to wear an abaya on campus.
The management of DPS in Srinagar asked the Muslim teacher to choose between an abaya and her job forcing her to resign from her post. The teacher’s resignation led to mass protests inside the school as students called for her reinstatement.
She resigned on Wednesday after school authorities told her that she cannot wear it “inside the school”. However, she said, “I was not given any contract or explained any conditions when I joined.
The state government also took the management to task for their action against the teacher.
According to State Education Minister Naeem Akhtar, the move was similar to the one taken by the French government. France has banned headscarves, turbans and similar religious symbols in public. “We live in a multi-religious, multicultural set-up. We have a secular fabric and no force on any such issue will be accepted,” Akhtar said while addressing the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
“We are not France,” said Akhtar, also a spokesperson for the state’s Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party (PDP-BJP).
Criticising the move, Mutahida Majlis Ulema (MMU), a group of religious organisations headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said: “un-Islamic and anti-Muslim measures will not be tolerated.”
