Institute of Public Health makes Islamic dress code mandatory for employees

The Institute of Public Health, a government entity, has made the Islamic dress code mandatory for its Muslim employees, triggering a social media backlash.

The institute’s Director Dr Abdur Rahim in a circular on Thursday said that men must wear trousers above the ankle and women must cover themselves from head to toe.

The notice also ordered all employees to strictly maintain ‘purdah’, or seclusion, and asked them to keep their mobile phones turned off or on silent mode.

bdnews24.com made attempts to reach the director by mobile phone and his aide answered the phone only to say his boss was “away”.

When the matter was brought to the attention ABM Khurshid Alam, head of the Directorate General of Health Services, he said, “Under no circumstances he can do this as per the terms of public service. He cannot send out such a notice. Is he out of his mind?”

“I am currently outside Dhaka to work on the modernisation of several hospitals under the instruction of the prime minister. I will look into it as soon as I get back.”