Durban: Married Indian-origin Hindu nurses in South Africa were on Saturday allowed to wear 'bindis' and nose rings during working hours after they protested against a ban on using the traditional symbols.
The Health Minister of the KwaZulu-Natal province, Peggy Nkonyeni, told reporters that the nurses were now free to wear bindis, the traditional dots on the foreheads, as well as nose-rings and 'mangal sutras'.
"I believe and respect the dot, as it symbolises the marital status of a Hindu woman", said Nkoyneni. "Just as we respect the right of married women to wear their wedding rings, we also believe that similar treatment and respect must be accorded to Hindu women wearing their powdered dots, stick-on or liquid."
The government lifted a ban imposed by the local Addington Hospital, which prohibited the nurses from wearing their customary symbols.
The move of the hospital, which said it was only trying to prevent infections to patients, had evoked widespread condemnation from several organisations, including South African Tamil Federation, South African Hindu Maha Sabha and the South Africa Hindu Dharma.
The Tamil Federation had described the ban as an "insult" and a "joke".
The Health Minister said as a government institution, the hospital cannot be seen to be infringing on the Constitutional rights of individuals, especially staff.
"What is concerning that we are tolerant and accommodative of women who apply cosmetic powder on the whole face, but intolerant when other women exercise their customary and religious rights by placing a powdered dot on their forehead", she said.
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