Did TN girl students protest against school uniforms by throwing away their dupattas?
Claim
Girls studying in a school for tribals (indigenous people) in Tamil Nadu are throwing away their dupattas (scarves) in protest against school uniforms that they think North Indian and patriarchal!
Rating
Explanation
A video of students throwing their dupattas from the first floor of the school building is shared with the claim that girl students in a school for tribals in Tamil Nadu are throwing away their dupattas to protest against school uniforms that they think are North Indian and patriarchal. This video is being shared with the same claim on Facebook and Twitter. Some of the posts can be seen here and here.
Girls Studying in a school for Tribals in Tamil Nadu are throwing away their Dupattas, Scarves in prottttest against school uniforms pic.twitter.com/KYWlWUjflj
— Hyderabad Deccan NEWS (@HYDDeccanNEWS) March 15, 2023
What is the truth?
An NGO ‘AWARE India’ organized a 3-day experiential learning camp for girl students of the tribal community in ‘Kalvarayan Malai’ in continuation to the ‘Comprehensive SexEd-based Lifeskills Program’ at a school in Kallakurichi district, Tamil Nadu from 11 to 13, March 2023. The said life skills program included the explanation of books written by female authors through ‘HER stories’ to the students in the form of stories, art and drama for six months. And the 3-day learning camp was planned in a way that female authors including Nivedita Louis, Geetha Ilangovan and Narayani meet and interact with the students.
The Facebook page of ‘Aware India’ posted the viral video two days before mentioning that the girl students attending the 3-day program welcomed Geetha Ilangovan, author of the book ‘Dupatta podunga Thozhi’ (Wear Dupatta, friend) by throwing away their dupattas. The same video is also found uploaded on the Instagram page of Aware India four days before.
View this post on Instagram
This incident was also reported by Tamil Indian Express on 14, March 2023. The article mentions that ‘Dupatta podunga thozhi’ is a compilation of articles written by Geetha Ilangovan for the ‘Her Stories’ website. The article also carries the viral video.
The same video can also be found on Geetha Ilangovan’s Facebook page with the caption translated as “AWARE India organization’s AWALADIKARAM program celebrating the daughters of Kalvarayan Hill. I did not expect this even a bit. Immersed in Happiness. Much love and thanks guys”.
Conclusion
It is found that a video taken in a program ‘Awaladikaram’ organized by Aware India where the girl students welcomed one of the female authors Geetha Ilangovan by throwing away their dupattas is falsely shared as they protested against their school uniform.
