PARENTS and pupils in one of Britain’s largest Muslim communities have clashed with their council after the introduction of a ban on girls wearing strict Islamic dress to school.

At least three girls are staying away from classes in protest at the ban in the London borough of Tower Hamlets. Others face possible expulsion by continuing to wear the clothing in defiance of the restriction.

Schools in the borough, following council guidelines, have banned pupils from wearing the jilbab, a long dress that leaves only the face and hands uncovered. Headscarves are allowed.

Muslim girls in Tower Hamlets have been wearing the jilbab to school for a number of years. Many pupils and parents are angry that the ban has been implemented during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month.

The council argues that the move is necessary to comply with school uniform rules and for health and safety reasons. It is claimed that pupils wearing the jilbab may trip over the garment or catch it in machinery during science lessons.

Some families, however, maintain that they are the targets of religious discrimination.

Rifat Akhtar, 13, who attends Central Foundation girls’ school, has been one of the pupils affected. She has worn the jilbab to classes for over a year but her parents have received two letters of complaint from the school and she is considering changing establishments.

“The jilbab is part of my religious belief because it says in the Koran it’s obligatory for women to wear it. It makes me confident and gives me an identity as a Muslim,” said Akhtar, who lives with her parents in Stepney Green, east London.

Education leaders in Tower Hamlets held a meeting with religious figures last week and set up a working party to discuss revising the guidelines.

The Tower Hamlets ban comes months after Shabina Begum, a 15-year-old Muslim girl from Luton, lost her landmark High Court battle for the right to wear the jilbab at school. The court ruled in favour of Denbigh high school, which argued that Begum’s dress posed a health and safety threat and created a division among Muslim pupils by making some look more religious than others.

Tower Hamlets has the largest concentration of Muslims in Britain, accounting for 36% of the population. All 16 secondary schools in the borough have implemented the ban.

The schools last week referred all inquiries to Tower Hamlets council, which said: “The local education authority offers guidance to schools on suitable clothing, developed in consultation with faith groups.”

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