Kochi- A private school run by a management in Palluruthy here was compelled to declare a two-day holiday on Monday following an escalation of a dispute with the parents of an eighth-standard student over her wearing a hijab.

A school PTA official alleged that the parents were backed by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a pro-Islamist political outfit, and that its members misbehaved with the school authorities, who are mostly nuns.

SDPI has not yet responded to the allegations.

The issue came to light after a letter issued by Sister Heleena Alby, Principal of St Rita’s Public School, announcing holidays on Monday and Tuesday, surfaced on social media.

In the letter, the principal said that due to pressure from a student who came without the prescribed uniform, her parents,

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