Ganesan Seerangam, who heads MIC’s education bureau, said Nora Yahya, the headmistress of Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Puteri in Hulu Langat, Selangor, had told him that the ruling was to protect the hygiene of Muslim students.
“The headmistress reasoned that some students bring non-halal food and the move was to maintain the hygiene of the Muslim students,” Ganesan told FMT.
Following outrage from parents and civil society groups, the school today removed the labels on the cups, which were placed next to a drinking water dispenser at one of its blocks.
Ganesan said Nora not only refused to put an end to the practice, but was also “supportive of the instruction which was made by the previous headmistress”.
Nora took over as headmistress last July, replacing Roslinda Kamis.
But Roslinda had earlier denied that she was behind the practice of labelling cups as “Muslim” and “non-Muslim”.
“Pupils usually just drink off the water dispenser. During my time, there was no such labelling,” she told FMT today.
Ganesan urged the education ministry to investigate who was responsible in starting the practice, which has sparked outrage among parents and civil society groups.
Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria slammed the practice as “racist”, adding that it had no religious basis even if Islam considers certain types of food as unclean.
“Even if one consumes pork, that does not mean his lips are unclean,” he said. “We can use cups used by non-Muslims. We can use cooking utensils used by non-Muslims.”