KDMC issues notice to Kalyan school over alleged restrictions on religious symbols.
Parents claim children were stopped from wearing tilak, bangles and rakhi.
School denies allegations, says safety and harmony remain its priority.
The Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) in Maharashtra has issued a notice to a private school after complaints that students were being prohibited from wearing religious and cultural symbols, officials said on Wednesday.
The matter came to light after some parents alleged that students were stopped from wearing items such as ‘tilak’ or ‘tikli’ (bindi), bangles, and rakhi or sacred threads. According to PTI, parents further claimed that in certain cases the ‘tilak’ put on by children was forcibly removed and students were threatened with punishment. Some also alleged that children were physically reprimanded.
Following the complaints, local workers of a political party drew the issue to the attention of KDMC’s education department. The department, on Tuesday, sent a notice to the school administration, seeking clarification on both the restrictive rules and the alleged punitive measures against students, PTI reported.
“Immediately after the complaint by the parents, the department acted and sent a notice to the school. We hope to resolve the issue soon. There is no need to stretch the matter further. The issue will be resolved amicably between the parents and the school management,” an official from the department said.
In response, the school management issued a statement defending its policies and stressing its commitment to secularism, quality education, and student safety. “The school has not issued any fatwa,” the statement read, adding that the institution gives “top priority to the safety of the students”. It further said the school aims to maintain “harmony between the school, students, parents, teachers and management”.
(With inputs from PTI)
