SC [FR] 97/2014 is a Fundamental Rights application currently pending before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. FH the Petitioner is an 11 year old Muslim girl who has named amongst others her school Principal as a Respondent for violating her Fundamental Rights by preventing her from attending school attired in a ‘punjabi’ kit. Long before the war, in 1980 Mr M D D Peiris the then Secretary to the Ministry of Education issued a circular permitting Muslim girls to attend school attired in this way. As a school uniform the punjabi dress comprises of a white frock, a white trouser and a cloth shawl pinned on either side onto the lapels. It is considered traditional attire for Muslim girls.
Photo by AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena via The Star
SC [FR] 97/2014 is a Fundamental Rights application currently pending before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. FH the Petitioner is an 11 year old Muslim girl who has named amongst others her school Principal as a Respondent for violating her Fundamental Rights by preventing her from attending school attired in a ‘punjabi’ kit. Long before the war, in 1980 Mr M D D Peiris the then Secretary to the Ministry of Education issued a circular permitting Muslim girls to attend school attired in this way. As a school uniform the punjabi dress comprises of a white frock, a white trouser and a cloth shawl pinned on either side onto the lapels. It is considered traditional attire for Muslim girls.