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No more beard at cadet college
TAXILA, Oct 1: Amid much talk of "Talibanisation" and "enlightened
moderation", the administration of Cadet College Hassanabdal has come up with
its own controversial rules restricting the cadets, other than Hafiz-i-Quran,
from sporting beards.
In an order issued on August 31, the college principal notified that cadets looking forward
to growing beards must seek permission, otherwise they would face the
music.
Talking to reporters, a number of students, who were accompanied
by their parents, opined that the step had been taken to discourage religious
tendency among the cadets and to enforce the government's vision of "enlightened
moderation".
The order says: "Only those cadets who are Hafiz-i-Quran will be
allowed to keep beards in the future.
"Other than these, no additional
cadet will be permitted to grow or keep a beard unless he is a Hafiz, for which
he will produce a certificate of having done Hafizul Quran and application from
his parents for growing a beard."
The principal also tasked all house
masters with conducting a survey and enlisting the cadets with beards. They are
to submit the names to the principal as soon as possible.
Taking
exception to the order, a number of cadets and their parents expressed anger at
the decision forcefully imposed by the college administration.
"The
college administration wants to secularise the institution and we condemn the
order, which is in sheer violation of the spirit of Islam and human
rights."
MPA Prof Mohammad Waqas Khan, who was also accompanying the
group, said he would take up the issue on the floor of Punjab Assembly during
its next session.
Mr Khan said the principal should be removed from the
office without any further delay for issuing the order that discouraged
observance of Sunnah.
Cadet College Hassanabdal Principal Tayyab N.
Akhtar, when contacted, said according to the policy introduced in the college,
all cadets who wanted to have beards should apply and then the administration
would allow or disallow after case-to- case study of every application in a
meeting.
He said: "We normally discourage cadets to have
beards."
Mr Akhtar said the order should be followed by the cadets as
they had given an undertaken at the time of admission that they would abide and
follow all the rules introduced by the college administration, adding that those
who did not follow the order would be treated accordingly.
The parents of
the cadets have called upon Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, who is also the
chairman of the college's Board of Governors, to intervene in the matter and
remove the ban on growing beards.
They also demanded necessary action
against the college administration for issuing such disputed orders. Dawn
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