A school in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir recently sparked public concern after issuing a circular that prohibited students from wearing religious symbols, including bindis, tilaks, and kalavas, on campus. The notice, which was intended to outline general dress code expectations, drew immediate scrutiny for its specific targeting of these cultural and religious markers.

In response to the backlash, the school administration characterized the inclusion of these items as a "copy-paste" error, suggesting that the language was inadvertently lifted from an external source or a previous document without proper review. The Chief Education Officer of Poonch, Javed Iqbal Gulshan, has intervened in the matter. Gulshan formally summoned the school principal to provide a detailed explanation regarding how such a policy was drafted and disseminated. The administration has since sought to distance itself from the controversial clause, maintaining that the school does not intend to restrict the religious expression of its students. The incident has highlighted the sensitivity surrounding school policies in the region, where administrative errors involving religious symbols can quickly escalate into broader community tensions.