23 students suspended over protests against hijab ban in Mangaluru

The students were suspended till Saturday for staging a demonstration seeking permission to wear hijab (headscarves) within their educational institutions.

The Uppinangady Government First Grade College in Karnataka’s Mangaluru has suspended 23 students for allegedly staging a protest demanding permission to wear a hijab to their classrooms.

The Uppinangady Government First Grade College in Karnataka’s Mangaluru has suspended 23 students for allegedly staging a protest demanding permission to wear a hijab to their classrooms. (REUTERS/FILE)

The college in Dakshina Kannada district had suspended six students in March this year on same charges.

“The students staged a demonstration. So, they were suspended on Monday,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Puttur and college development committee (CDC) chairman Sanjeeva Matandoor was quoted as saying by PTI on Tuesday.

The 23 girls were suspended till Saturday for staging a demonstration seeking permission to wear hijab (headscarves) within their educational institutions, Matandoor said, adding it was against the Karnataka high court ruling in March this year on the issue that hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam and everyone should abide by the uniform dress rule in the educational institutions wherever there is a dress code.

On March 2, the college suspended six students for violation of the college’s dress code. An official of the district administration said the Uppinangady Government Pre-University College suspended the students for wearing hijabs on campus, despite multiple warnings.

Reacting to the protests, deputy leader of opposition and Congress legislator UT Khader asked students to “understand the opportunities they have in this country”.

“There are thousands and lakhs of students studying. Those insisting on wearing the hijab can go to court. They cannot do whatever they want. Can I do whatever I want? I should be able to adjust to the law of the land and not go to court whenever I feel like it,” Khader said on Monday.

In December last year, at least eight Muslim students wearing hijab were stopped from entering the class. On January 1 this year, the CDC passed an order banning hijab on 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 intensified the protests. The controversy resulted in a court case, where the Karnataka high court upheld the college’s right to enforce a dress code and observed that the hijab is not an essential religious practice.

(With inputs from PTI)