The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance ruling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation differ over Hindu girl students wearing accessories to school.
Hindu girl students of 150 convents in the city wearing bindis and bangles to school? There are voices for it, and there are voices against. The debate, it seems, will either rage on or die down, because there is a difference of opinion within the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance ruling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The saffron partners have varying takes on the bindi-and-bangles issue. Rukmini Kharatmol of the BJP, chairperson of the BMC education committee, said she had no intention of placing such a “flimsy” proposal before the state education department. BJP group leader Ashish Shelar supported her.
But Mumbai BJP president Gopal Shetty and Shiv Sena corporator Raju Pednekar were all for Hindu girl students of state-aided convents schools wearing bindis and bangles, along with school uniform.
“No school can be deregistered for not allowing girl students to wear bindis and bangles. How many Hindu schools allow girls to wear bindis and bangles,” Shelar asked.
His party colleague, Shetty, begged to differ. “This idea must be implemented for the sake of national interest. This Indian identity should continue to exist in society. The Supreme Court has allowed Muslim students of the Aligarh Muslim University to sport long beards. Then why stop Hindu girls from wearing bindis and bangles?” Shetty countered.
Sena corporator Pednekar said, “We have an issue about convent schools taking aid from the BMC, but following only their own rules. We are not saying that it should be made compulsory for Hindu students to wear bindis and bangles. But if they want to wear them, the schools should not oppose.”
Kharatmol told reporters, “Our committee on Tuesday passed as many as 96 proposals under the MCGM Act. But there was no proposal from corporators saying that missionary school students should be allowed to wear bindis and bangles. They were merely opinions expressed by some of the corporators. The only thing the corporators wanted was that the aided convent schools be asked to follow the BMC regulations. We are not submitting this proposal of students wearing bindis and bangles to school to the state government.”
Kharatmol added that all convent schools have a uniform dress code, which the education panel would not interfere with. “We only want that good education be given to students of all religions. The corporators also discussed about Marathi schools having more holidays during Hindu festivals. We want the convents to take that into account.”
(With inputs from Kiran Tare)
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