Faizel Patel, 2016-07-01
The attorney for a family whose daughter has been granted permission to wear the headscarf at a private school in Polokwane says Muslims should be proud to be citizens of South Africa.
The 13-year-old girl was initially barred from wearing the Islamic headgear by the private school in August last year after the institution said they do not allow casual clothing.
Attorney Faheem Kaka says the parents wrote to the school including visiting the principal to request permission for their daughter to be allowed to wear the headscarf.
However Kaka says the school initially refused authorization saying they didn’t want to set a concession given to one faith while other faiths would also request the same precedent.
“They said they have to stick to a uniform and the current uniform and I am using their words, ‘is in touch with the norms sartorial propriety and is widely accepted practice in the schooling system in South Africa.’”
Kaka says the family laid a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) but the school continued to procrastinate on the issue.
“We issued an ultimatum to the school that at a certain point in time if we do not get a response to our satisfaction that they act in terms of the law and allow the headscarf she will attend school with a headscarf anyway. At that point Alhamdulillah in this month of Ramadan she was then allowed to wear the headscarf.”
Kaka says South Africa has a constitution and government institutions that work to allow us to enjoy our deen in that way.
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