Even before that, the government had said in a notice no female student can be punished for not wearing a burqa or hijab.
Some institutions in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, however, still force students of all religions to wear burqa, topi or hijab, arguing that the religious attire is part of the uniform.
Ad-din Sakina Medical College is one of them. The female students of all religions at the institution in Jashore are required to wear a hijab, a head covering worn by certain Muslim women.
The girls have to submit written consent on it during admission.
The issue of institutions forcing students to wear hijab, or topi for men, made news in Bangladesh after recent protests against a ban on the Muslim headscarf at educational institutions in India’s Karnataka.
Although the authorities of the institutions combine religious attire with uniforms, sociologists see such clothes as religious symbols.
Sadeka Halim, a professor of sociology at Dhaka University, thinks clothing helps create a religious identity. People don clothes such as the hijab as part of the practice of purdah, a religious and social tradition of secluding women.
She believes the decision to enforce a uniform involving such clothing items comes from a religious perspective.
“Some schools mandate that students must wear a hijab or topi. Students of other religions are also forced to wear them as part of their school uniform,” she said.
Dress codes in schools and colleges usually aim to facilitate the equal treatment of all students. Requiring students to wear religious attire may work against that goal.
Sumona Biswas, a teacher of Dhaka’s Nalanda High School, said uniforms should mute all distinctions among students, regardless of which religion they belong to.
“Everyone will have distinct clothes, religious and political preferences in their personal lives. But with a group, they all appear equal if they look the same. The differences lessen.”
The High Court dictates that no one can be forced to wear religious clothes and the education ministry supplements the directive with its own instructions. But the practical implications of these rules are non-existent in the dress code at Ad-din Medical College, which is a concern of the Ad-din Foundation.
It has fixed different dresses for students up to the fifth year. All of them include head coverings like hijabs.
Principal Kamal Uddin Ahmed insists those are long scarves.
“Dress code includes salwar kameez and scarves. A particular colour is for each year to help identify the students by their session,” he said.
“Wearing a scarf around the head all the time is not obligatory. There is no such rule. Some wear it around their necks, some over the heads,” Kamal Uddin said.
According to him, 58 of the 330 students at the medical college are non-Muslims, while 87 are from abroad, mostly from India. Some of them are from Nepal.
Other educational institutions under Ad-din Foundation also have hijab mandates.
Although the rules at Kalyanpur’s Ibn Sina Medical College are similar, Principal Mohibul Aziz appeared oblivious of it.
“I see many wearing [hijab]. I didn’t actually notice. The girls wear them voluntarily.”
A student at Faizur Rahman Ideal Institute’s Banasree branch said those without topi and hijab are not allowed to attend classes at the institute.
Several students of Motijheel Ideal School and College said arriving at the institution without topi or hijab is met with rebukes from teachers.
However, Abu Hena Morshed Zaman, chairman of the institution’s governing council, claimed the mandate to wear the religious coverings was lifted in 2020 and made voluntary.
Mentioning that students should not be treated harshly for not wearing them, the government secretary said, “It is true that there are some devout teachers in Motijheel Ideal School. They probably feel the urge to continue this practice [of rebuking students for not wearing topi or hijab] regardless of the school’s new rules.”
Tania Haque, professor of women and gender studies at Dhaka University, said: “We always link topi and hijab with Muslim people. It represents the religion, along with the culture.”
She suggested that more research is needed into the recent surge of girls wearing hijabs to find out whether fear of violence and fashion trends are major factors.
“The educational institutions are using their power to force them to wear religious clothes.”
In 2010, Natore’s Rani Bhabani Women’s College made headlines by mandating the burqa as a uniform.
Later that year, Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury and Justice Sheikh Mohammad Zakir Hossain delivered a verdict stating that everyone has religious freedom in Bangladesh which is a secular state. So, no one can be forced to wear religious attires such as burqa and taqiyah, a cap, against their will.
The order came on the back of a suo-moto rule earlier that year by the same bench which stipulated that no women can be forced to wear the burqa at work and educational institutions and they cannot be barred from taking part in cultural activities or sport.
The Ministry of Education had already issued a notice ordering all institutions to make religious dresses voluntary and banned any harassment or punishment of female students over the issue.
Authorities threatened an investigation and legal steps if the orders were violated.
Justice Shamsuddin, who retired as an Appellate Division judge, said institutions are violating the court’s orders by forcing students to wear religious attires. In that case, aggrieved individuals or victims can bnring contempt of court charges against those.
“Everyone is obliged to follow the court’s orders. People violating those orders should be jailed. Because they are committing a punishable offence.”
“The education secretary was tasked to ensure all schools follow the orders. If he doesn’t take steps against this, he, too, should be punished. Someone needs to write a letter to the secretary asking why he is not enforcing the orders mentioning that he is also in contempt of court.”
Prof Sadeka Halim also feels that the administration should take steps against such breach of rules.
“The state has to determine whether all the schools should ask students to wear headscarves. Many wear hijab voluntarily, that is different. But none can be forced.”
Prof Tania said, “The educational institutions cannot introduce [burqa, hijab, topi] as uniform. The education ministry will decide that. We send our children to school to educate them. If the authorities there force something on them, the state has to take responsibility.”
Attempts to reach Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Md Abu Bakar Siddique for comment went unanswered.
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