On Monday, representatives of the Sikh community gathered in a huge number, agitated and held talks with the administration of the Heritage School, Jammu, after the school denied a female Sikh student entry because she had covered her head with a ‘Chunni’ or a dupatta.
As per media reports emerging from the site, it has come to the fore that a female Sikh student was objected entery to the school due to Kara, Kirpan and the Chunni, which is the head cover, worn by the 9th grade female student. The student was asked to get rid of these if she wanted to attend classes in the school.
Upon this, the student’s parents reached the school.
The father of the 9th grade female student, Harneet Singh, told the media that their child had gone to the school after a long break owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the school uniform wasn’t yet available, the school had granted permission to the student to wear clothes of their choice in the meantime. And thus, she wore a suit to the school. During the break, she had become an ‘Amritdhari’ Sikh, i.e., she went through the Amrit Sanskar initiation ceremony. And as part of their code of conduct, the Amritdhari Sikhs have to wear these articles that the school had objected to.
A teacher pointed to the student at the school and asked why she had covered her head, to which she responded by saying that she would get the uniform within a few days. But the teacher asked the student that how would she cover her head and legs with the uniform, to which she responded by saying that she’d cover her head with a scarf and put on leggings. The school had also objected to the leggings worn by the student to cover her legs.
The next day, the school authorities called the parents asking them to receive their child from the school reception. The parents tried communicating with the school authorities, but were given no appointment before this happened. However, after that, the parents talked to the Principal.
“The principal of the school objected to the size of the Kara and Kirpan worn by our child, saying that during some sports event, the Kara could cause injury to anyone. We agreed on shortening the size of the Kara and Kirpan. After that, the principal objected to the student’s covering her head, which irked us. We asked the school administration to hand us the Transfer Certificate instead,” said the student’s father, Harneet Singh.
“The principal asked us to wait and think for a day or two. Our decision was final, however. We had also come to the decision that she would adhere to the Amritdhari code of conduct after she finishes her school but she insisted on embracing it. She said that she felt comfortable that way since it’s been two years of her being an Amritdhari Sikh. I communicated with a friend, somehow the word spread. And our community has supported and stood with us, however. They came here and held talks with the school administration,” he added.
A Sikh social activist said that the shocking and unfortunate incident was not isolated. “A couple of days back, ab incident of the same nature took place when Sikh students wearing Kirpan were barred from entering examination hall when they went to appear for the NEET exam. Similar incidents also took place in Himachal Pradesh where a student from Bhaderwah was barred from sitting in an exam due to his Kirpan. All of this happened in the past few days,” he said.
“The incidents seem well planned and since the regime also wants to impose a Uniform civil code under Hindutva, it seems like an attack on the fundamental rights of the minorities,” said the activist.
“The action is a violation of the Article 25 of the Indian constitution, which provides every person the right to practice their religion freely. After objecting to Hijab, Sikh religious practices have been targeted. We want the administration to look into the matter and protect the fundamental rights of the minorities,” he added.
Meanwhile, a protestor said that the teacher who objected to the student’s Kara and other religious articles had also objected to some turbans worn by the Sikh students, two years back.
“If the school administration doesn’t agree to our demands, and violates the religious freedom of the student, we will take to the roads and stage massive protests,” he added.
Another aghast protestor said that all over the world, in various countries, Sikhs are free to practice their religion and hold prestigious positions while also embracing their religious identities. Therefore, the incident was disheartening and unfortunate.
After agitation and talks of almost a day, the school permitted the female student to remain in the school. It was agreed upon that the student could cover her head with a dupatta as per the colour of the school uniform. The parents, however, decided to change her school since the family had felt humiliated and the student was also made to go through trauma.