A Catholic nun was barred from taking the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) here since she refused to remove her veil and Holy Cross in accordance with fresh CBSE guidelines.
The incident happened at Jawahar Central School at Kanjiramkulam, about 30 km from here. Sister Seba, a member of the Bethany Convent in Thiruvananthapuram, was at the school at about 8 am to take the test. She was advised by the school principal to remove her veil and cross, as stipulated in CBSE guidelines issued for the test.
The nun sought permission from the officials to wear the veil and cross after a check was conducted but the request was turned down. “I also requested for a separate room where I could take the test without the veil and the cross on. That request was turned down as well on grounds that there was no provision for a separate test venue,” she told reporters.
Fr Stephen Alathara, deputy secretary-general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), called the incident “painful” and said it was against the spirit of a secular state.
“This is not a head-scarf; the nuns wear the veil as part of a dress code that has been adopted for a spiritual way of life. Imposing such restrictions in the name of rules is unfortunate and extremely disturbing,” Fr Alathara told Deccan Herald.
The Supreme Court on Friday maintained that faith was not connected to clothes one wears, while hearing pleas by Muslim girl applicants in connection with CBSE’s ban on head-scarves and full-sleeved clothes during Saturday’s AIPMT re-test.