Six students were denied entry into classes by college officials in Udupi district, about 400 kilometres from Bengaluru, because they wore hijabs, according to the students and their parents. The incident occurred at a government-run women’s pre-university college.
The parents of these students, along with activists, staged a protest on Saturday against the authorities for barring the students from entering the classroom for three days.
Students complained that they were not allowed to speak in Urdu, Arabic, or Beary languages, in addition to not being allowed into class due to the dress code. For three days, the girls protested outside the classroom. The students claimed that their parents approached Rudra Gowda, the principal, for talks, but he refused to hold one.
The girls claimed they had not been given attendance for the previous three days and were concerned that they would face a shortage of students. “We were told to bring our parents to college,” a student told the media, “but when they arrived, school officials made them wait for three to four hours.” “Everything was fine before we started wearing the hijab,” another student said, “but now we’re being discriminated against.”
Students can wear hijabs outside of the classrooms, but not inside, according to college principal Rudra Gowda. According to him, the rule is being followed to ensure classroom uniformity. In an interview with the media in Udupi, the college principal clarified the situation, saying that a meeting of parents and teachers will be called to discuss the situation.
“Our school’s rules make no mention of wearing a hijab as a uniform.” Six Muslim female students, out of a total of 60, have arrived at college wearing hijab for the past three days. As a result, they are not permitted to attend classes. If they take off their hijab, they will be able to attend classes. “We spoke with their family members about the situation,” he said.
On Saturday, a group of students from the college and members of the Islamic Organization of India went to the district collector, Kurma Rao, to report the incident. The delegation included five girls who were barred from entering the classroom. Rao could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, the Udupi unit chief of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Nazeer Ahmed, has stated that if students are not allowed to attend classes while wearing hijabs, the party will stage a protest. The Campus Front of India warned of gherao if the college does not reconsider its decision to not allow Muslim girls to wear hijab at a press conference.
The controversy arises as the Karnataka government pushes for an anti-conversion bill. The bill has yet to be approved by the Legislative Council, so it will not become law. The bill, according to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, is both constitutional and legal. He claimed that the bill was intended to eliminate the threat of religious conversion.
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