World

In Ahmedabad schools, green uniforms for Muslims, saffron for Hindus

The other 454 schools run by AMC have the same blue and white uniform

Web Desk April 15, 2015

PHOTOS: JAVED RAJA

AHMEDABAD: The irony hasn’t escaped two Indian schools in Ahmedabad district, where Muslim and Hindu students are distinguished by their ‘uniforms’.

Muslim students are made to wear green uniforms while their Hindu classmates adorn saffron uniforms.

PHOTO: JAVED RAJA

Shahpur Public School and Dani Limda Public School are also unique for being the only English medium schools in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

The uniforms at the Shahpur School, where most of the students are Hindu, are saffron-coloured, while the uniforms the Dani Limda school, where almost all the students are Muslim, are green.

The other 454 schools run by AMC, all non-English-medium, have the same blue-and-white uniform.

PHOTO: JAVED RAJA

School administration, however, has said the decision to use the two colours was taken without any prejudice. “The selection of green was a random decision and has nothing to do with any community. We had other options, of pink and blue, too but, keeping in mind the suitability to children, green was finalised,” AMC School Board Chairman Jagdish Bhavsar said.

He termed the selection of saffron for the Shahpur school as a “non-partisan decision” too, taken without any “prejudice or preference” towards a community or organisation.

More than 98% of the students at Dani Limda Public School, located in the middle of the Muslim-majority Kanubhai slum in Dani Limda village, are Muslim.

At Shahpur Public School, more than 95% students are Hindu.

Many took to Twitter to express grief over the discrimination faced by the students and how they were being divided by religion.

A story that should trouble us: http://t.co/NJR81cOs4v
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) April 14, 2015

https://twitter.com/inc24x7/status/588149268252360705

School Apartheid in Gujrat: Saffron uniform for Hindu kids, green for Muslimhttp://t.co/p9EldRglbI
— Iqbal Haider Butt (@iqbutt) April 15, 2015

#Religion poisons everything#Indian kids infected with a seed of division long before they have a mind of their ownhttp://t.co/lhONWLX4PN
— Hans Michael Hensel (@hmhensel) April 15, 2015

This article originally appeared on The Indian Express

COMMENTS (33)

Sach Bhol | 9 years ago | Reply @John: Yes, apartheid does exist -- but in Pakistan where minorities are treated like garbage and simply liquidated at will.

ask | 9 years ago | Reply @Indian Observer: You wondered "What’s wrong?". Nothing except both are Government schools. As per Constitution promoting any religion is not allowed in fully government owned institutions. That it is observed often in breach does not make it right.

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ask | 9 years ago | Reply @Indian Observer: No Government run schools are authorised to promote any religion.Doing so would be against the letter & spirit of Indian Constitution & therefore, Law.. A Municipality or Government owned School, fully paid for or subsidised by tax payers' money, can't be compared with a Convent, Madrassa, Seminary, Gurukul/Vad Pathshala,Jain Apasara or Arya Samaj DAV School, who are all free to promote practices unique to their religion.

Indian Observer | 9 years ago | Reply Two different schools, one is majority Muslim and wears green , the other is majority hindu and wears orange. What's wrong? Why do you think many convent schools push white and blue colours ? Being secular does not mean hiding all the symbols of your religion. Secular means being able to practise the faith of your choice without discrimination. The so called seculars who dont like any symbols of religion and claim they are true seculars , are in fact 'pseudo-seculars' . This applies for both pakistan and India as well.

ask | 9 years ago | Reply Some posters here have highlighted the obvious that there are two different schools with different colours. That an insignificant minority of kids of either religion is made to wear the colours typical of the "other" religion is hardly an explanation. The real bafflement is elsewhere & at the least there is something really fishy. If 454 Schools run by very same Administration in same City have identical blue & white uniform for all the pupils of all the schools and only two schools have saffron & green as specific colours respectively, there sure is something odd, if not sinister..

Freeman | 9 years ago | Reply @Joe: That are two types of people: those who stereotype (including "media") and those who don't.

Freeman | 9 years ago | Reply @Naeem Khan: People who live in glass houses . . . .

Amit Lunia | 9 years ago | Reply @ all We have been reading the articles of the "well known author" who writes silly articles all the time, by the way nobody knew about this author till now, My son studies in christian school as I had earlier and we had green, blue ,orange blue and white house ( students group) only to differentiate and compete in sports activities not based on any religion or segregation these are two different schools and the color of the T shirts are similar to my son's and other schools i know across India, some times you would find students from same school wearing these colours for their Houses Very very stupid article and similar responses from sardesai, and others who criticise only to justify the Hindus and Sikhs being dictated to wear Yellow

Gurion | 9 years ago | Reply This has been proven to be fake news manufactured by a section of Indian media. And then Pakistanis lapped it up by adding some spice to it.

pk | 9 years ago | Reply Pakistanis get a moral boost whenever such thing happens in India because they can justify their so called two nation theory. But I am 100% sure somewhere in their heart they also know that secularism is the only way to peacefully driving a nation. Thanks for showing concern for secular India. We Indians with all its fault will remain secular and can give our lives for the cause. Because we know that is the RIGHT thing.

Ashar Ali | 9 years ago | Reply I fail to understand what is the problem if schools are different as clearly stated in this article, one school has green uniform while other has saffron, leave the religious domination in those schools for now, where exactly is the problem? Everywhere is the world, schools have uniforms of their own choice. Stop spreading hatred, spread peace/love instead.

wb | 9 years ago | Reply I don't understand the nonsense of this controversy. Is logic dead? These are clearly two different schools with two different uniforms. So, where is the question of apartheid? What nonsense is this? If children of different persuasion were made to wear different uniforms in the same school, that is deplorable. But here, it looks like Sardesai who was recently fired from a news channel is trying to score some points and make himself visible.

Sohan | 9 years ago | Reply It is just the color of the uniform guys, what is troubling you. i just dont understand.

kksr | 9 years ago | Reply Its the uniform of the two different schools and the students, irrespective of their religion, will be wearing the same uniform

nation | 9 years ago | Reply Today, after a year of Modi rule, it is 2 schools who're following apartheid policies. Next year it will be 4, the following year 16, the next year 256..so on and so on. Welcome to the new "shining" India everybody. We hope you enjoy your stay in this "secular" utopia

Altaf | 9 years ago | Reply @hari: I dont understand how Indians pretend like nothing is wrong in this, and that it is the media causing a commotion. If something happens in a state run by BJP, it is automatically good, or at least benign. But if this happened in a school in Sindh, you'd be all up in arms.

Joe | 9 years ago | Reply @Kamal: If you know what happens at the time of communal riots in Ahmedabad, you know why id this done? Until now, they had to ask people to pull down their pants to verify that he is a muslim, before they kill a guy with circumcision. Now need to they dont need to do it anymore. They identify from distance by color and can do killings more effectively.

Joe | 9 years ago | Reply @BlackJack: So, how come you did not get the point? This is done so at the time of communal riots, they can identify people from distance and kill them without asking them to pull their pants down. You religious bigots.

Joe | 9 years ago | Reply @Indian Hindu Telugu Brahmin: SO, what Indian media do you recommend? Why dont you search for the truth yourself?

Rizwan | 9 years ago | Reply @BlackJack: Essentially, youre making a claim without any evidence. If what you say is true (and apparently youre an expert on Gujurati school uniforms), then please provide us with evidence.

India Media 'Presstitutes' | 9 years ago | Reply I don't understand the problem? There are two separate schools with different uniforms. I would understand of some nefarious scheme if students of different religion in the same school were asked to wear different color uniforms, but two separate schools??? Express Tribune and Pakistanis - Please worry about your country instead of poking nose in our affairs.

just_someone | 9 years ago | Reply Modi's Indian!

ShamelessPakistanis | 9 years ago | Reply 2 Nation Theory still valid.

hari | 9 years ago | Reply two different schools, different uniforms...what wrong in that....media communalising the issue

Kamal | 9 years ago | Reply Pathetic as it can get. Division on Religion between KIDS? Come on - when will grow up? teaching them to hate from the start - welld one! No wonder NASA is making colonies on MARS to escape all this mess!

BlackJack | 9 years ago | Reply Excellent example of distortion. Most of the tweets try to portray that kids are assigned uniform based on religion while actually it is the uniform of two different schools - so the Hindu kids in the school with the green uniform wear green, and the Muslim kids in the school with the orange uniform wear orange. These people should be ashamed.

mohinder singh | 9 years ago | Reply keep voting for Mr MODI

Indian Hindu Telugu Brahmin | 9 years ago | Reply Please,Indian media is paid.These kids study in two different schools,not the same one.Do not believe whatever the Indian media says.Indian media is more bigger enemy to India than Pakistan or China.

Naeem Khan | 9 years ago | Reply Reminds of Nazis pasting yellow stars on Jews in Germany. Indians never feel hesitation to boost to the world that India is the largest democracy in the world but fail to mention that apartheid is well and living in Indian democracy. It is not only Moslems that they discriminate but Christians too. Well, I am not surprised when Modi was elected and now true Modi is exposed to the world to see. We won't see Indians commenting on this article for sure because it shows them their true nature. I wonder where is that Pakistani hater Pot Pal?

John | 9 years ago | Reply apartheid exists!

Stranger | 9 years ago | Reply Tip of theiceberg . Things will go down hill if the tpyes of VHP/ RSS etc are allowed to flourish. Looks like the Modi drug is wearing out ( rather , it SHOULD wear out ).

iftakhar | 9 years ago | Reply that is the clear sign to the world that we are not one.

Hira | 9 years ago | Reply not appreciated!

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