Compare a varStatus with a number in

This question already has an answer here:

• How to compare an EL expression against the result of another EL expression 1 answer

I have the following code snippet:

<c:if test="${ $(status.index) == 0 }"></c:if>

status is the varStatus of a surrouding c:forEach. I tried already several possibilities, but I couldn't find the correct way for comparing.

At the moment I am getting an javax.el.ELException (Function ':$' not found).

Does anybody may help?