Can’t force students to wear hijab, or ban wearing of sacred thread: Madhya Pradesh HC

The controversy erupted after the school administration put up a poster on the premises of students who topped in classes 10 and 12 state board exams.

Updated on: Aug 31, 2023, 04:53:20 IST

By Shruti Tomar, Bhopal

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The Madhya Pradesh high court on Wednesday granted bail to the administrators of a private school who were booked for allegedly forcing girl students to wear headscarves.

Madhya Pradesh high court says students of other religion shall not be forced to wear headscarves (hijabs) anywhere in the school premises. (PTI)

A first information report (FIR) was registered on May 31 against 11 members of the Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School in Damoh under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Juvenile Justice Act.

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The controversy erupted after the school administration put up a poster on the premises of students who topped in classes 10 and 12 state board exams. In the poster, all female students were seen wearing headscarves, though five of them were not Muslim. A complaint in this regard was filed later by the students’ parents.

A single judge bench of justice Dinesh Kumar Paliwal released committee members Asfa Sheikh, Anas Athar and Rustom Ali on a personal bond of ₹50,000.

“Applicants shall not repeat commission of offence in which they are being released on bail. They shall not prevent from wearing the essentials of their own religion as such wearing a sacred thread (kalawa) and putting tilak on the forehead. They shall not compel the students of other religion to read/study any material or language which has not been prescribed or approved by the Madhya Pradesh Education Board,” said the order, which HT has seen.

“Girl students of other religion i.e. Hindu and Jain etc. shall not be compelled to wear head scarf (Hijab) anywhere in the school premises or in the class rooms. It is directed that they shall also abide by all the conditions enumerated,” the order added.

After the controversy erupted, some of the students alleged that the teachers used to “force” them to “learn the Quran and reciting it on Friday was compulsory”.

“As the area doesn’t have any other good school, I continued to study in it,” a student said in the FIR.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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