MT Desk: Six Muslim students of government women’s PU College in Karnataka’s Udupi have alleged that the principal is not allowing them to wear hijab (headscarf) inside the classrooms. The students also complained that they are not being allowed to talk in Urdu, Arabic and Beary languages.
The women stood outside the classroom for three days in protest. The students alleged that their principal, Rudra Gowda, refused to hold discussion on the issue with their parents. The girls said they have not been given attendance for the last three days.
Gowda said the students can wear hijabs in the school premises but not inside the classrooms. He said the rule is being followed to ensure uniformity in classrooms. He added that said he would conduct a parent-teacher meeting on the issue.
Meanwhile, the SDPI Udupi unit president, Nazeer Ahmed, said that they will stage a protest if the six students are not allowed to attend classes with their hijabs.At a pre-university college for women in Karnataka’s Udupi district, six Muslim women were denied entry into classes on account of wearing a hijab last week. The students say they were not given attendance for the days they came in a hijab; and were also not allowed to talk in Urdu, Arabic, or Beary languages, according to Hindustan Times.
The umbrella argument by officials is these decisions will ensure “uniformity” in the dress code within the college. In Udupi, principal Rudra Gowda told local media that the school had “no provisions to have hijab as the uniform” and thus the students were not allowed to wear them.