The teacher said that this was the first time she had faced such a situation in her teaching career.
A teacher working in a Mumbai school who resigned after she was allegedly forced to remove her hijab by the headmistress, has said that she was shocked as she had never faced such a situation in her teaching experience of over four years.
Shabina Nazneen Khan, an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) teacher at Vivek English High School at Kurla, said that she had been teaching at the school for two years and nine months, and had never been asked to remove her hijab till the headmistress of the primary section Savita Nair took charge. She faced no such problems at another school that she taught at earlier as well, she added.
Meanwhile, an NGO, Jai Ho Foundation, has come out in support of Khan and has written a letter to state education minister Vinod Tawde and education officials to look into the matter.
“I was never asked to remove my hijab in my college and nor at the earlier school where I worked for two years. Even before Savita Nair joined as Headmistress in the primary and pre-primary section, I was never asked by any Vivek English High school official to remove my hijab,” Khan said.
“However, recently, Nair asked me to remove the burqa, so I did. However, I was not comfortable. On another occasion, when I was reading out a pledge in the school, Nair asked me to remove even my headscarf, which I was not comfortable with again. In the secondary section of our school, girl students too wear headscarves, but that is never objected to. I have always performed well as a teacher. Why should one object to my religious culture? I decided to resign from my post on December 7. I have got a dispatch from the school that mentions that it has been forwarded to the secretary of the management,” she said.
Adil Khatri, social activist and trustee of Jai Ho Foundation said, “We were approached by Khan. In a secular country like India, educational institutions should not make rules like banning burqa or kurta. It will have an adverse impact on social harmony and brotherhood in the society. We have written to state education minister Vinod Tawde and other education officials to conduct an enquiry and take action in this matter.”
Ramesh Joshi, general secretary of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's Shikshak Sabha, said, “How one should dress is a private matter, so long as it is decent. The school need not intervene in that.”
However, an officer of the education department said, “There is no such rule of education department where teachers can ban wearing of hijab. But if it is a private school and the management has formed any dress code, then the teachers will have to follow it.”
Despite repeated attempts, Vivek English High School officials remained unavailable for comments.
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