A Controversy erupted in the Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh after the posters showed students who had topped the Madhya Pradesh Board Examinations wearing hijab. Most of the girls wore a headscarf that looked like a hijab and their names written on the posters reveal that they are Hindu girls.
The Madhya Pradesh government has ordered a probe after these posters of school children wearing hijab went viral.
The issue came to the fore following the May 31 publishing of a poster by Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School in Damoh featuring meritorious students, including Hindu and Jain girls, who were seen wearing headscarves that resembled hijab.
SP of Damoh district responded to the controversial poster claiming that such accusations were totally false. The Superintendent of Police tweeted “The allegations were not proved in the investigation”.
The District Magistrate (DM) Mayank Aggarwal dismissed the charges alleging that there was nothing untoward discovered during the initial inquiries.
The school administration has also provided clarity on this matter and said the outfit that seems to be a hijab in the photographs has been designated as a scarf.
“It is part of the school’s dress code and is not a hijab but rather a scarf that the older girls in the school use to cover their heads’, said the school administration.
Meanwhile, as the photographs went viral, People started staging demonstrations both at the collector and SP offices. Many accused the school administration of encouraging conversion by comparing it to The Kerala Story, prompting Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra to speak out.
State Home Minister Narottam Mishra told the reporters that “the matter will first be investigated by the district education officer. No complaint was received in this regard. In view of the seriousness of the issue, the Superintendent of Police(SP) has been instructed to thoroughly investigate it”.
Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School is managed by an Islamic organisation. As a result, as soon as this poster went viral, there were strong reactions from Hindu organisations. They sought immediate action against the school administration. However, no complaint has been filed in this case by the family of the girls.
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Priyank Kanoongo, the head of the National Child Rights Protection Commission(NCPCR), also took note of the incident and issued directives for action.
Kanoongo tweeted, “A complaint has been received about a school in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district forcing Hindu and other non-muslim girls to wear burquas and hijabs in the name of school uniforms. Cognizance of this is being taken and instructions are being sent to collector Damoh and SP, Damoh for necessary action”.
The NCPCR chairperson took note of the matter and yesterday sent a notice to the District Magistrate seeking an action taken report within a week.