Student not allowed to enter classroom without removing tilak from forehead in Rishikesh

Rishikesh: A girl was not allowed to enter her classroom in a school here without removing a tilak from her forehead, prompting her parents and Hindu outfits to stage a protest, following which the principal had to offer an apology.

Director General of School Education Jharna Kamthan has also asked the chief education officer of Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand to investigate the matter.

The Class-8 student was asked by her teacher on Wednesday to remove the tilak from her forehead, saying it was not allowed in the school.

The girl obeyed her teacher and attended the class but told her parents about it later.

Her parents, along with Hindu outfits, reached the school on Thursday to protest.

"The teacher should not have forced the girl to remove the tilak. Wearing a tilak is a Hindu tradition. How can a Hindu be stopped from wearing it?" Rajiv Bhatnagar, president of one of the Hindu groups that were part of the protest, said.

The matter was resolved after the principal of the school apologised to the girl's parents and the protesting Hindu groups, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and Rashtriya Hindu Shakti Sangathan.