Denying Edu Over Hijab: Neither colleges nor students ready to relent
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Bengaluru: The Government Junior PU College in Kundapur in Udipi district in Karnataka remained firm that no students with hijab will be allowed to attend classes, but placed them in a separate classroom to avoid crowding outside.
However, the girls, who were placed in a separate classroom, had not been given any lesson. The conundrum remained unresolved, as neither the college authority nor the students ready to retract from their stand.
Meanwhile, Kalavara Varadaraj M Shetty Government First Grade College had not allowed students who refused to remove hijab to attend classes.
Usha Devi, Vice Principal at Kalavara Varadaraj M Shetty Government First Grade College, said the college did not come into pressure but to avoid any issue for rejecting classes to students who used to wear hijab in the classes before the controversy.
Two other colleges in Karnataka declared holiday to avoid a communal frenzy on the campus, where some students entered wearing saffron scarves to protest against their hijab-wearing fellow students. The college authorities have suggested declaring holiday, expecting an order from the Karnataka High Court tomorrow.
The hijab protests began last month at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district when six students alleged that they had been barred from classes for insisting on wearing the headscarf. Right-wing groups in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru objected to Muslim girls wearing the hijab to class.
The protests spread to more colleges in Udupi and beyond, with staff banning the hijab and many students taking a confrontational position by showing up in saffron scarves and shouting slogans.
On Saturday, the state's BJP government banned clothes which it said "disturb equality, integrity and public order".
