Teacher sorry for asking Hindu pupils to shave

COLOURFUL FEST: A chariot with the statue of Lord Murugan goes through Kuala Lumpur, marking the start of Thaipusam.

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Kuala Lumpur: A Malaysian teacher has apologised to the parents of six Hindu students for ordering the boys to shave off the moustaches and beards they grew to fulfill their vows for the key Hindu festival of Thaipusam last week.

The incident comes at a sensitive time for Malaysia after protests by minority ethnic Indians against policies they say benefit majority Muslim Malays. Indians say the policies rob them of jobs, education and other opportunities.

A march in the capital last November by more than 10,000 ethnic Indians to protest against racial discrimination upset authorities and many ordinary Malaysians.

"The teacher was actually enforcing the rules which forbade the wearing of accessories," education director of the northern Malaysian state of Perak, Hussain Harun told the Star newspaper.

"But in fact, he was being insensitive to the students' religious and cultural practices."

Four parents complained to the police on Saturday after the discipline teacher ordered the secondary school students to shave off their facial hair, stop wearing religious wristbands and spoke to them harshly when they tried to explain, the paper said.

Islam is the official religion of multi-racial Malaysia, where Muslims make up just over half the population of 26 million, while large numbers of ethnic Indian and ethnic Chinese minorities follow the Hindu, Buddhist and Christian faiths.

The colourful festival of Thaipusam, which fell on January 23, is one of Southeast Asia's biggest Hindu feasts, drawing thousands of devotees who pierce their bodies with skewers or hooks in thanks for favours granted by the deity Murugan.

Worshippers prepare for the event by fasting, abstaining from meat and drink, and letting their hair grow to shave it off in a religious ritual on the day.