The issue began in early January at the Government Girls Pre-University (PU) College in Udupi, where six students attended classes wearing headscarves in violation of the dress code.
Highlight
- Muslim girl students who tried to enter a government college in Kundapur were denied re-admission.
- Some Hindu students wearing saffron shawls started roaming from place to place as a protest.
- Strict orders that wearing of Hijab will not be allowed as per the dress code issued by the Government of Karnataka.
Muslim girl students, who tried to enter a government pre-university college wearing a hijab in Kundapur in Karnataka’s Udupi district, were again denied entry to the campus by the authorities on Friday, the third day after the matter came to light at the institute.
Hijab-clad students, who had come along with their parents, were pushed into the gate of the college campus, despite a strict order by the authorities that they would not be allowed to wear hijab as per the status quo on the dress code issued by the state government. .
The parents of the girl students also protested outside the college gate. When they entered the campus, some Hindu students wearing saffron shawls started moving from place to place as a form of protest. The boys were soon asked to take off the shawls and attend classes in the college.
Seeing the tension, the policemen of Kundapur police station present at the gate drove away the parents of the girls, citing the instructions of the government. However, the girls remained near the gate.
Meanwhile, a group of students from Government Girls PU College in Udupi has approached the Additional Deputy Commissioner to resolve the issue at the earliest to create a conducive environment for education in the college.
In their appeal, the girls said that the final examinations are near and the teaching process in the college is disrupted due to the presence of police and media. He said in the appeal that the district administration should take immediate action to resolve the issue raised by only six students in the college.
The issue began in early January at the Government Girls Pre-University (PU) College in Udupi, where six students attended classes wearing headscarves in violation of the dress code.
The college had allowed hijab on campus but not inside classrooms. Students protesting the instructions were not allowed inside the classrooms. The girls continued their protest by sitting outside the classrooms for almost a month.
Udupi MLA and College Development Committee chairman K Raghupati Bhat interacted with the parents of the protesting girls, who also insisted that their children be allowed to wear the hijab.
The school authorities later categorically declared that girls wearing hijab could not be allowed inside classes until an expert committee constituted by the state government to study the issue comes out with its report. The government also directed schools to maintain status quo on dress code in PU colleges.
One of the six students protesting at Udupi College has approached the Karnataka High Court on January 31 seeking interim relief to attend classes wearing a hijab till the matter is resolved.
In her petition, the student said that wearing hijab is her fundamental right under Articles 14 and 25 of the Constitution. The High Court is likely to hear the matter on February 8.
The incident was followed by another incident at the Pre-University College in Kundapur in the same district, in which the authorities prevented 28 Muslim girl students from attending classes in the college wearing hijab, citing a government directive. The girls later protested the order outside the classrooms as well.
Things got worse when around 100 college students wearing saffron shawls on Wednesday protested against allowing girls to wear hijab inside classrooms.
Kundapur MLA and College Development Committee chairman Haldi Srinivas Shetty, who arrived at the college, called a meeting of the girls and their parents to discuss the issue. Since the parents did not agree, the meeting failed to reach a consensus.
However, the officials remained firm on the position that the directive of the government would be followed. On Thursday also, the college administration stopped the girls who came to the college at the gate itself. The issue remains unresolved as parents are insisting on their children’s right to wear head scarves.
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