No hijab in Student Police Cadets, says Kerala government
India Today
The government took the firm stand that adding religious symbols to uniforms would be inappropriate, that it would give the wrong message, and similar demands would arise from other units.
The Kerala government on Thursday said that it cannot allow students to wear hijab and full sleeves as part of the uniform of Student Police Cadets, a project involving high school students of various schools in the state. The plea by a class eight student was initially filed with the High Court which redirected it to the government.
The government took the firm stand that adding religious symbols to uniforms would be inappropriate. It would give the wrong message and similar demands will rise from other such units which should be secular in nature.
It is to be noted that NCC and Scouts and Guides also have uniforms with no connection to religious backgrounds of the students. The idea behind the Student Police Project itself was to create a generation which places nation above all differences of background.
The state nodal officer of the Student Police Cadets was also not in favour of allowing religious symbols and gave a report denying the demand and pointing out the negatives of allowing such a thing.
No such demand has risen in the past ten years of the cadet's existence, the official pointed out in the report.
“Combining religious matters with uniforms in the present situation would raise the same demands in other similarly functioning forces, which would question the discipline and secular survival of the forces,” the order issued by the joint secretary of the home department said.
The petitioner is Riza Nahan, a Class VIII student of GHSS, Kuttiyadi who argued that it is her fundamental right to wear the dress (hijab and full sleeve) as guaranteed by the constitution of the country.
