A Christian Convent in Bharuch, Gujarat had barred girl students from entering school, if they were found to be wearing henna (mehendi) on their hands. It is reported that the school principal made around 40 girls stand outside the classroom for four hours as a punishment for applying the henna on the hands. The new diktat has angered the parents and they protested against the school authorities.
The administration of the Queen of Angel’s Convent School had ‘suspended’ the girl students till the mehendi on their hands faded. The angry parents confronted the school authorities and stormed the school chanting Hanuman Chalisa to protest against the order issued by the school. Local BJP MLA, and members of the RSS and VHP also joined in the protests again the school.
The wearing of mehendi is a custom in practice in many parts of the country since a very long time. The girls traditionally wear it during the ‘Gauri-vrat’ in Gujarat which ended two days earlier, said the MLA.
The Christian Convent had to finally apologize for their diktat and assured the parents that these incidents will not occur in the future. Sister Shila, a member of the school administration has even denied suspension of any student.
Bharuch: “This type of incident will not be repeated.We celebrate all festivals. We don’t discriminate students on the basis of their religion.This rule has been followed in our school from the beginning. We haven’t suspended anyone,”Sister Shila,School administration. #Gujarat pic.twitter.com/SuIZGIAozG
— ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2018
We had earlier reported that a similar incident had occurred in Kerala, when the principal of a government school in Pallakad had issued a diktat, threatening the students with expulsion if they are found to be using religious symbols like kumkum on their foreheads or sacred threads on their wrists. Earlier, a government school run by an evangelical Christian affected an order on girl students not to wear flowers and bindi.
