Hindu red string row: parents demand justice, not silence

TWO months after allegations surfaced of a Muslim teacher forcing Hindu pupils to remove their red Lakshmi prayer strings at Drakensberg Secondary School, the affected families have had no progress in the investigation.

- MONISHKA GOVENDER [e-mail]

Parents claim their complaints have been ignored while pupils continue to fear victimisation.

The South African Hindu Maha Sabha said on Monday it had now escalated the matter to the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic (CRL.) Rights Commission.

The POST broke the story on January 29. On February 3, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education (DOE) visited the school and launched an investigation into the allegations of racial intolerance at the school.

Four parents of the alleged victims claimed they had no feedback from the school or the department about the investigation.

Two of the parents said they had submitted written affidavits directly to the department while the other two handed theirs to the Escort Hindu Cultural Society. At the time the society was mediating between the parents and the school.

The parents said their children still feared victimisation if they spoke openly about the alleged incident.

"Nothing is happening with our complaints or the investigation. My daughter was given scissors to cut her red string and yet the matter is not being dealt with.

"The teacher was brazen enough to tell her to leave the class when she refused to cut her string. Now the teacher is denying the claims. My daughter initially spoke to the deputy principal about the incident and she said she would sort it out," said the frustrated parent.

She said when the DoE visited the school, she and her daughter were not interviewed or invited to the meeting.

"The SGB asked us to write out affidavits, which we did. Some of us handed it to the Estcourt Hindu Cultural Society.