Hijab row again after college enforces ban in Mangaluru

On May 16, the college decided to ban the hijab on the college premises, and a notice was issued the next day. This week, a group of students, some of them affiliated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), held a protest and claimed that the order is not being enforced.

The hijab controversy resurfaced in Karnataka’s Mangaluru district on Thursday, with a degree college in the city issuing a ban on hijab or a headscarf inside the campus.

The hijab controversy resurfaced in Karnataka’s Mangaluru district on Thursday, with a degree college in the city issuing a ban on hijab or a headscarf inside the campus. (ANI)

On May 16, the college decided to ban the hijab on the college premises, and a notice was issued the next day.

This week, a group of students, some of them affiliated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), held a protest and claimed that the order is not being enforced.

Following this, a group of Muslim students approached the district commissioner KV Rajendra on Thursday, alleging discrimination inside the campus.

On the same day, hundreds of Hindu students boycotted their classes and sat in protest outside the Mangalore University College in Mangaluru’s Hampanakatte.

“We had written a letter to the principal on May 10 asking her to ban hijab in the college. She said that we would take a decision on May 16 after holding a meeting. We approached them again, and they said a decision would be taken in a syndicate meeting, but nothing has been conveyed to us. We will start wearing saffron shawls if hijab is not banned,” a protesting student said.

The college principal, Anasuya Rai, said that the syndicate decided to ban the hijab after some students had approached the college management seeking a ban on the hijab. “On May 16, a syndicate meeting was held, where a decision to ban hijab was taken. We had put out the same on the notice board on May 17. After that, a few Muslim students are not attending classes,” the principal told reporters.

Mangalore University registrar Kishore Kumar visited the college campus and held a meeting with the principal and lecturers on Thursday. After the meeting, the registrar also met the protesting students and assured them that the hijab ban in classrooms would be enforced. Based on the assurance, students withdrew their protest.

One of the Muslim students who approached the Dakshina Kannada DC said that the Karnataka high court verdict on the hijab is not applicable to degree colleges.

On March 15, a three-judge bench comprising chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, justice Krishna S Dixit and justice JM Khazi delivered a 129-page verdict, in which they ruled that the hijab was not an “essential religious practice”, paving way for the ban on hijab in pre-university colleges in the state.

“First of all, the ban of hijab is not as per the high court order since it clearly says the order will not be applicable to degree colleges. Secondly, we have a copy of the prospectus of the college which clearly states that headwear will be allowed. Until now, we were wearing a hijab, and the new order is politically motivated. No court order has said that a dress code of the college can be changed during the academic year,” said the student, who didn’t identify herself.

Mangaluru South MLA, D Vedavyasa Kamath, has called a meeting with college authorities on Friday to discuss the issue.

“I am in Bengaluru and cannot get there now. But I will speak to the relevant authorities on the issue as it has not been brought to my notice yet. It is 100% the college’s responsibility to implement the HC order and the duty of every citizen to follow it,” Kamat told News 1. Mangaluru DC was not available for comment on the issue.

In December 2021, at least eight Muslim students were stopped from entering class wearing the hijab. On January 1, the college development council (CDC) passed an order banning the hijab inside campuses, leading to students sitting outside the college building, but within the campus, in protest.

College authorities maintained that the hijab was never allowed inside classrooms. By February, as the controversy spread across the state, there were counter-protests with some students wearing saffron shawls. On February 3, a video of the government PU college principal shutting the gates on at least 25 hijab-wearing students in Udupi’s Kundapura turned the issue into a wider movement.