London: Two Muslim girls banned from school because they insisted on wearing head scarves have defended their action stressing that “this is what our religion says we should do”.
The two girls told the popular newspaper “Today” that “nobody has forced us to do this.
“We are very upset by being sent home because we are both missing important lessons.”
Fatima and Aisha Alvi, aged 15 and 14, were sent home from Altrincham Grammar School, near Manchester in Northern England, this week.
The girls had their request to ‘wear the scarves turned down by the school on the grounds that the ‘Scarves were inappropnate for health and safety reasons and the issue is to be discussed at a meeting of the school governors on Tuesday.
Eric Seaward of the British Commission for Racial Equality criticized the ban, saying he could not imagine why scarves should pose a problem for health and safety.
Speaking to the independent newspaper “Today”, he said “we would like the school to feel able to resolve these themselves, but if not, some other action will have to take.” (Minaret)
Article extracted from this publication >> February 16, 1990
