Garissa Township MP Aden Duale has cautioned schools in his constituency not to ban students from wearing hijabs.
The National Assembly Leader of Majority said if allowed, schools will violate the constitutional right of students.
A hijab is a head covering scarf that some Muslim women and girls wear in public. For many of them, the hijab signifies both modesty and privacy.
Duale was making reference to a case in which seven students from Thaara Secondary School in Murang'a were sent home after they were found wearing hijabs.
Duale who spoke in Garissa town yesterday, said leaders from the Muslim community will not allow that to happen because it is religious discrimination. He said all religions have their beliefs including what they wear, which is in the constitution.
"I want to warn head teachers that they dare not stop our children from learning because of wearing a hijab. Anyone who does that will find it rough with us who come from the Muslin community," he said.
Duale accused the Supreme Court of ignoring the right to freedom of worship in its ruling banning the hijab. He appealed to Muslims to ignore the ruling.
In January, ruling on a technicality, the Supreme Court overturned a Court of Appeal ruling that allowed Muslim students to wear hijabs in public and in church-run schools.
The court said students are not free to wear hijabs in non-Muslim schools. The highest court in the land said schools can decide their dress codes.
Soon after the ruling, Muslim leaders led by Supkem urged Muslims to ignore the ruling. The lobby said the Constitution allows freedom of worship.
The ruling by the apex court attracted sharp criticisms from the Muslim faithful and clerics who termed it as unfair and one which violates their religious practice.
St Paul’s Kiwanjani Secondary School in Isiolo in 2014 suspended students for wearing hijabs.
(Edited by P. Wanambisi)
