In Udupi, students remain defiant as admin reaches out

Students have been sitting outside the college buildings guarded by police personnel since early February, trying to keep up with the class and their batchmates, who now are estranged, to say the least

The buildings, the paint and the wordings on the walls of the Government Girls Pre-University College in Udupi look the same from the outside. But the verdict on the Hijab by a three-judge bench of the Karnataka high court has essentially transformed the relations that bound the students of this institution and several others over the years.

The face-off between Hijab-wearing students and saffron-clad classmates is now etched in the history of a temple town, with ramifications for its future generations. (ANI)

Not because of the legal battle in the high court but because students, who grew up on the class benches and playgrounds together, shared chuckles, food, gossip, notes and dreams of achieving great things, are now easily identifiable by which side of the line they stood during the entire Hijab controversy.

The face-off between Hijab-wearing students and saffron-clad classmates is now etched in the history of a temple town, with ramifications for its future generations.

“Why we went to the High Court is because we wanted the Hijab and sit in the class. We had a lot of hopes that we will get justice in (the) High Court but unfortunately did not get it. We will not go to class without the hijab,” Aaliya Assadi, a second year Pre-University student and one of the original petitioners in the case, said on Tuesday in Udupi.

These students have been sitting outside the college buildings guarded by police personnel since early February, trying to keep up with the class and their batchmates, who now are estranged, to say the least.

Aaliya wants to become a wildlife photographer, Shafa a cardio technician and AH Almas aspires to be a pilot. These three students have become the voice of the “resistance” in the Hijab row.

Hours after the Karnataka HC verdict, students from Kembavi government PU college in Yadgir boycotted the class after they were denied entry with the Hijab, following a pattern of events seen for several weeks now across several districts in Karnataka where young Muslim girls are protesting outside the gates of their institutions for not being allowed to have their basic right to education.

“I have made a public appeal through the media that all six students return to class and there will be no discrimination. We will ensure that notes are given to make up for the gap (for not being allowed to attend class for over three months),” Raghupathi Bhat, the BJP MLA from Udupi and chairman of the College Development Council of Government Girls Pre-University College in the district, told HT.

“They (petitioners) can go to SC but until then they can attend class where only inside the classrooms they should not wear the Hijab,” the legislator added.

This very point had become the bone of contention between the students and the college administration since the end of December, with the CDC on January 1 passing an order banning the Hijab inside classes, aggravating the tense atmosphere.

The face-off at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) college on February 8 -- “we want justice” call by Hijab-wearing girls was countered by “Jai Shri Ram” by their saffron-clad classmates -- is fresh in the memory of the people in this otherwise quiet town.

The college is barely two kilometres away from the famed Sri Krishna Mutt, one of the holiest religious sites for Hindus, and Manipal university town on the other, where the impact of this controversy has barely been felt.

“What happened should not have happened but it has already taken place,” said Ayush Poojary, a student from Sri Venkataramana College in neighbouring Kundapura taluka of Udupi district.

“I agree that there were misunderstandings when the fight happened, but hopefully we can move beyond that,” he added.

The “resistance” by the Hijab-wearing girls and the counter by the Hindu students are suspected to be the play of larger communal organisations, HT reported.

Students from government PU college in Udupi have openly admitted that the Campus Front of India (CFI) , the student wing of the Popular Front of India (PFI) , is backing them.

HT reported how right-wing organisations like Bajarang Dal and Hindu Jagrana Vedike had helped mobilise students from the Hindu community into carrying and wearing saffron shawls for protests like what was witnessed in MGM College on February 8.

The political and communal battle, which has taken the lives of several youngsters in these parts, is now playing out in school and college grounds. And the students of Udupi, where the average literacy rate is 83%, may be too young to know the far-reaching consequences of their actions.