Students of a Catholic school in Mangaluru, Karnataka, in India, have reportedly staged a protest action after nuns who run the school refused to let students wearing hijab into classrooms.
The school said the ban was based on a government order and a court decision to ban hijab in all educational institutions in the state.
On March 21, the nuns running the school also refused to allow five hijab-wearing Muslim students to write pre-university examination. The students insisted on wearing hijab inside the classroom.
“Today, some 25 students came with hijab and protested the management decision and missed their exams,” said Bethany Sister Shubha of the Bethany Education Society.
Speaking to Matters India March 23, she said the High Court order did not specify whether private schools and colleges should follow the order, but left it to the decision of the management.
“As a policy, we have decided to ban hijab inside the classrooms in all our educational institutions and stick to the school uniforms,” said Sister Shubha.
The Bethany Sisters, or the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany, currently manages about 190 schools and colleges, mainly in rural areas, throughout India.
The congregation was founded in 1921 by Father Raymond Mascarenhas, a parish priest in the Diocese of Mangalore.
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