Damoh School asked Hindu girl students to wear hijab: MPCRPC

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Members of Madhya Pradesh Child Rights Protection Commission (MPCRPC) have said Ganga Jamuna High School in Damoh was used as a godown and owner of the institution, who is a trader, used the place for rolling bidis.

The two-member panel-- Omkar Singh and Megha Pawar --visited the school recently following the hijab controversy. “We are surprised to see that the District Education Officer (DEO) gave the necessary permission for this work. It is illegal,” said Singh.

They also claimed that the institution was used for religious conversion as the school atmosphere was Islamic. All the girl students including Hindus were asked to wear hijab and even three Hindu teachers had to convert to Islam to get jobs in the school. It is found that students and teachers used to greet each other with ‘Walekum Assalam.’

The members, however, said that they couldn’t contact the parents of children who were shown wearing hijab in the advertisement, issued by the school. “Their mobile phones were switched off,” Pawar said. She also admitted that no complaint had been received from the parents of Hindu girl students saying that their daughters were being forced to wear hijab. “But some of the parents of Hindu girls told them that they had initially objected to the move to wear Hijab. The school, however, made it clear that the girls without hijab won’t be allowed and then they agreed,” Pawar said.

According to Singh, the teachers who were allegedly forced to embrace Islam for job had also not made any statement to the panel. “Our information is based on what others told us,” he said. They further said that the school was granted minority educational institution status in 2017-18. The members will compile their final inspection report and make necessary recommendations to that district administration and other authorities.