Religion
The Muslim community in North Horr Sub- County has protested against the decision by the management of three primary schools’ refusal to allow pupils to wear hijabs when in school.
The fraternity which held a peaceful demonstration from the local Jamia mosque to the North Horr DCC offices over the matter has also threatened to pull out of the sub-county in faith council citing attempts to frustrate religious freedom and observance.
Led by the North Horr Muslim Community deputy imam Aden Mohamed and the head of religious teachings Abduba Galgalo the faithful now wants the government to compel the head teachers in the three schools not to contravene the national education policy by allowing their daughters to wear hijabs while in school.
The leaders noted that 371 girls in the affected schools, North Horr, Helmer and Ruso were losing on education as they were undergoing through stress and harassment.
The parents complained that the schools had also declined to grant their daughters Islamic religious education despite them ascribing to the Muslim faith.
Sheikh Mohamed noted that there was no fight between Muslims and the other religion faithful but that what the three schools head teachers were doing amounts to discrimination.
“Our children are being asked to remove hijab and the headgears which amounts to harassment” he said.
The demonstrators handed a written grievance to the sub-county ACC1 Mr George Owor who promised that their grievances would be addressed without delay.
The local sub county police commander Samuel Kiplong hailed the parents and the Muslim community of being peaceful in their picketing as it was their constitutional right.
He however advised them against engaging children in demos and to instead allow them to attend school without disruption.
“Don’t make your children to lose learning time by involving them in demonstrations” he advised and asked parents to exercise restraint and to follow laid down administrative procedures to resolve any grievances they may have.