Kochi: The principal of a Government Higher Secondary School at Elappully, a sleepy village in Palakkad, is being hauled up to court allegedly for imposing restrictions on students wearing religious symbols in classes.
Sources said that trouble started at the Government Appavu Pillai Higher Secondary School last week after a section of parents began to insist on the students’ right to sport tilak on their foreheads and wear amulets on wrists, which are part of Hindu traditions.
When contacted, Principal Valsamma told this newspaper that her predecessor had barred the students from wearing apparently religious symbols and attending classes.
She alleged that she was being attacked for being a Christian. Commentator and rightwing activist Rahul Easwar told this newspaper that he would join the aggrieved parents in filing a petition to uphold the freedom and religious rights of students, reflecting the pluralist ethos of the Constitution.
