Hawzah News Agency (Mumbai , India) - A Mumbai teacher in a suburban school has resigned allegedly because she was asked to remove her hijab (headscarf) and burqa on the campus by the headmistress. Khan Shabina Nazneen, 25, resigned from the Vivek English High School in Kasaiwada, Kurla, saying that the work environment was hostile.

Nazneen, who had been working as an ICT teacher in the secondary section for the past two years and nine months, said she was being targeted by a new headmistress who had joined the school in June. “Since the new headmistress joined, she has asked me to remove my hijab and burqa on several occasions, saying it was against the decorum of the school. When I pointed out that I had the right to wear my traditional attire, I was told I had to abide by the rule,” said Nazneen.

“I was told that other Muslim teachers did not wear the hijab and I must follow suit,” she added. Nazneen said she resigned after an incident on December 5, when she was asked to remove her burqa before singing the national anthem. “It was my turn to do the morning assembly, where we sing the prayers and the national anthem. I was forced to remove my burqa as the headmistress said I could not sing the national anthem with the burqa on,” said Nazneen.

Nazneen has approached a non-government organisation, Jai Ho Foundation, which has written to education minister Vinod Tawde. Adil Khatri, trustee of Jai Ho Foundation, said, “This is in violation of her right under Article 25 of the Constitution. We have told the minister that this is creating an environment that is not good for the society.”

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