The hijab-saffron shawl issue continued for the fourth day in Kundapur town of Udupi district as students of two private colleges took out separate processions wearing saffron shawls on Saturday.
A large number of students of Bandarkar Pre-University College took part in the procession that started from a nearby temple. After the controversy that started at the Government PU College for Girls and Government PU College in Kundapur, the college is one of the few in Kundapur to have banned the wearing of saffron shawls and hijabs as well.
The students of Bandarkar College were stopped at the entrance and allowed inside after taking off their shawls. Heavy police force was present in the college. Meanwhile, a delegation of parents met the college management and submitted a representation to allow their children to wear hijab in class till a decision on the dress code is taken by the state government. The parents said that representatives of management were non-committal on representation.
At RN Shetty PU College, students entered the college wearing saffron shawls and alleged that the lecturers allowed some girls to wear hijabs in class. After a confrontation with the students, the college management declared a holiday and drove the students away. These students took out a procession.
Government PU College Kundapur, which has declared a holiday for the students, held a meeting of the College Improvement Committee on Saturday. The committee decided to continue with the present Students are barred from entering the campus wearing hijabs and saffron shawls until a decision is taken by the government and the Karnataka High Court.
Meanwhile, the writ petitions of six students of Government PU College for Girls in Udupi, from where the issue originated, will come up for hearing in the High Court on February 8.
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