Hyderabad: A Class IV student was allegedly not allowed into class at the CAL Public School at Kapra on Wednesday as he was wearing the Ayyapa Swami Deeksha dress.
Tension gripped the school when dozens of swamis protested against the alleged religious discrimination of the school management. The management, however, denied the charges and said that they were merely being strict regarding uniform and were not against any religion.
The police was called in and the child was allowed to attend class. The parents said their son K. Jagruthi, 8, started Ayyappa Deeksha on Tuesday to go to Sabarimala with his father next month.
As part of the Deeksha, he started wearing black clothes and religious accessories. When he was entering class on Wednesday, principal Nilesh stopped him and asked him to wear the school uniform and he was sent back home.
When Nilesh told his parents what happened they informed their relatives. A group led by Sai Ayyappa Society Secretary Ravinder Reddy and student activists, most of them wearing Ayyappa Deeksha, came to the school and started a sit-in demanding an apology from the management, and permission for the boy to attend class in the same dress. The protesters shouted, ‘This is not Pakistan, this is Hindustan’.
Later, the police took up the matter and the management decided to allow the child to attend class. They said that they were concerned only about the school uniform and have nothing against any religion.
