Headlines
Anger in Kerala over headscarf row
Thiruvananthapuram, July 26
A day after a nun
was barred from taking a national medical test here after refusing to
remove her headgear, a section of Kerala's political and religious
leaders on Sunday reacted sharply.
Congress state unit president
V.M. Sudheeran said it was unfortunate that a nun was prevented from
wearing her official dress while writing the examination.
"The
onus is on the government to see that such things do not happen. Such
acts affect the faith of an individual," he said in a statement here.
Sister
Seba, a nun with the Syro Malankara Church, was denied permission to
take the All-India Pre-Medical Test after she refused to remove her
headgear despite a Supreme Court ruling.
The apex court last
week refused to restrain the Central Board of Secondary Education from
enforcing a dress code for the AIPMT. The court said a ban on certain
types of dresses was meant to prevent fraud.
Sister Seba said she had sought a separate room to write the examination without the headscarf but this request was turned down.
E.T.
Mohammed Basheer, a Lok Sabha MP from the Indian Union Muslim League,
said the observation of the Supreme Court on the dress code was not
acceptable.
"The court should not have given such a ruling," said Basheer.
Syro
Malankara Church supreme head Cardinal Baselious Mar Cleemis said: "The
fact is she agreed to be frisked... If she had disagreed, then it's a
different matter. Such a thing should not have happened."