– Mita Mukherjee 

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Thursday urged states to ask schools to not punish students if they wear rakhi, tilak or mehendi during Raksha Bandhan.

The apex child rights body said that over the years, it has come to know from various reports that school students are subject to harassment and discrimination by school teachers for observing various festivals. 

The commission wrote a letter to principal secretaries of school education departments of all states urging them to direct schools to ensure that students are not exposed to harassment or corporal punishment for celebrating Raksha Bandhan.

“It has been noticed that schools do not allow children to wear rakhi or tilak or mehendi in schools during festivals such as Raksha Bandhan and subject them to harassment, both physical and mental. It may be noted that corporal punishment is prohibited in schools under Section 17 of the RTE Act, 2009. A letter in this regard was issued on 30.08. 2023,” NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo wrote in his letter to the states.

“As the festivals are approaching, it is requested to issue necessary directions to the concerned authorities and ensure that schools do not observe any such practice that may expose children to corporal punishment or discrimination.”

According to the letter, “Over the years, it has been observed by the Commission through various news reports that children are subject to harassment and discrimination by the school teachers and other staff on account of celebration of festivals.”

Kanoongo also requested that compliance reports, along with copies of the relevant order, be submitted to the Commission by August 17. Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on August 19.

Raksha Bandhan commemorates the special bond shared between sisters and brothers. During the celebration, sisters tie a rakhi around their brothers’ wrists as a gesture of love and affection. In return, the brothers pledge to protect their sisters.

However, several schools run by Christian bodies in Kolkata said that they consider Raksha Bandhan as a good tradition and they never tell students to not wear rakhis. Instead, they do not tolerate hurting the sentiments of other faiths.

“Raksha Bandhan is an integral part of Indian culture. Moreover, in Bengal it epitomises not only the love between sister and brother but also the promise of protection from one human being to another. Hence, Raksha Bandhan, which upholds the core values which make us human, should be encouraged and celebrated in every school as a lesson towards becoming versions of ourselves,” said Rev. Rodney Borneo, principal of St. Augustine’s Day School, Shyamnagar.

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