The principal of Vishwa Bharti Girls Higher Secondary School (VBHSS), Rainawari, issued a written “unconditional apology,” saying that her instructions for “uniform dress of students were misinterpreted,” hours after protests and social media uproar over the alleged “Abaya ban” at the school.
The students of Vishwa Bharti Srinagar staged a protest against the school administration for imposing a “Abaya restriction,” as they called it.
Students said that they were told to remove the Abaya, a long black robe, since it was not allowed at the school.
Dozens of female students and their families demonstrated outside the school, insisting that they had a right to wear whatever they want.
They said that the Abaya is tied to their religious identity as Muslims.
Anger over the school’s decision quickly spread throughout social media.
The ‘intervention in religious issues’ by the institution was also criticised by several political groups.
The administration then said that the students had misunderstood the rules about wearing a uniform beneath the Abaya and that no such restriction had been issued. According to an official statement released by the VBHSS’s headmaster, “No ban has been imposed by the school principal or management on wearing Abaya.”
According to the letter, pupils are free to wear the Abaya to school, despite the fact that no such policy has been implemented thus far.
The school administrator said her directive for students to “wear school uniform underneath the Abaya” was “misunderstood.”
She claimed in an audio interview that she had required the Abaya-clad kids to wear school uniforms.
The Head of School expressed regret to everyone she had offended.
“I unconditionally apologise for the same,” the school’s headmaster wrote.
