Rule to ban students from wearing sulu or any other form of
religious symbols by the management of Bhawani Dayal Arya College has been
widely condemned by religious bodies and certain individuals.
A Shree Sanatan Dharam Prathnidhi Sabha pundit yesterday said religious
tolerance should begin in schools and school managements should exercise that
flexibility.
The pundit said schools have set uniforms but students should be allowed to
wear religious symbols in forms of pendants or be permitted to wear certain
hair style that has religious significance attached to it.
If a student is devotee of Hare Krishna then he must be allowed to come to
school with shaved head and a tilak (mark of the forehead), the pundit said.
Fiji Muslim League spokesman, Hafiz Khan said schools should have religious
tolerance.
Mr Khan said there are a number of schools run by Fiji Muslim League and these
schools have its own set of rules on maintaining uniformity.
Boys are expected to wear long pants but we have exceptions. Those who prefer
to wear sulu, are allowed to do so. We expect the students in our schools to
follow our rules but at the same time, we maintain religious tolerance in
special cases, Mr Khan said.
Sanatan school education board chairman Chengaiya Naidu said decision to ban
religious symbols in schools threatens unity and peaceful coexistence.