Several parents staged a protest outside the Navodaya Kishore Kendra at Kuvempunagar here on Thursday against the school’s rule asking them not to wear a burkha when dropping their children to school.
Girl students have also been asked not to wear the hijab or headscarves.
According to the police, the school management told the parents that the rule was introduced to prevent “kidnapping of schoolchildren by burkha-clad miscreants”.
After the Vidyaranyapura police intervened and the school management withdrew the rule, the protest was called off.
A parent, Mohammed Aleem, claimed the school management had recently forced a few women to remove their burkha when they attended a school function. Of the 750 children studying in the school, more than 50 per cent were Muslims, he said.
The school belongs to E. Krishnappa, husband of Yashodamma, Congress councillor of Kuvempunagar ward.
“We have nothing against any community, we just wanted to ensure the safety of children,” headmaster of the school, Prakash, told The Hindu . Officials added that it was “indecent” for parents to come to drop their children off in nightclothes.
