Tamil Nadu School girls threw away their dupatta in protest of school uniform-viral claim is misleading

Students threw their dupatta as a welcome gesture to Geetha Illangovan [author of Dupatta Podunga Thozhi (Wear the dupatta friend)], who was invited to address them for an event at their school.

A video of students lining up in the corridors and flinging their dupattas (scarves) is going viral on social media platforms. According to those who shared the video, girl students in Tamil Nadu are throwing away their dupattas in protest of their school uniform, which “they say is North Indian & patriarchal”

The caption of the video states, “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! #india”.

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Fact Check- 

A Google search using relevant keywords led us to an article in India Today that featured the same video. Accordingg to the report “Female students in a government residential school in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi gave a befitting welcome to famed author Geeta Ilangovan by throwing their dupattas in the air.  Author Geetha Ilangovan’s articles published under the name ‘Her Stories’ were translated into Tamil and given the name ‘Dupatta Podung Thozhi’ (wear you dupatta friend). It spoke about how women were told to behave and how they were enslaved.  Geetha Ilangovan who visited the school in Kalvarayan hills was overjoyed to see the students’ response, who threw away their dupattas from several floors expressing their joy at meeting the author”.

In further search we came across news articles which reported the incident here & here. As per these articles Geeta Ilangovan, was scheduled to interact with these students at the camp focused on eradicating child marriages.

Geeta Ilangovan posted the same video on her Instagram and Facebook accounts, expressing her delight at the response.

The same information was also mentioned in a BBC Tamil report dated 14 March 2023. The interaction between Ilangovan and the students was part of a charity initiative called “Aware India,” according to the report.

Geeta’s book, a compilation of essays on women and their rights and liberties, is titled “Dupatta Podunga Thozhi” which translates to “Wear the dupatta, friend”.

Thus, it is clearly evident from these pieces of evidence that the girls threw off their dupattas as a gesture of welcome and not as a sign of protest.

Conclusion- 

As a result, we can conclude that the viral claim is misleading, students threw their dupatta as a welcome gesture to Geetha Illangovan [author of Dupatta Podunga Thozhi (Wear the dupatta friend)], who was invited to address them for an event at their school.