Hijab row resurfaces; Muslim students accused of wearing headscarves in class

The hijab issue once again came to the fore on Thursday as a group of students from the University College here staged a protest on the campus alleging that a few Muslim girl students are attending classes wearing the headscarfThe protesting students who were wearing the college uniform claimed that 44 students are wearing hijab to college and some of them are doing so in classrooms tooThey accused the college principal and authorities of having failed to address the issue so far under pressure from a ldquopowerful local political leaderrdquo and that the studentrsquos union leader has also colluded with themldquoWe have been demanding the implementation of the High Court order despite us submitting memoranda to college authorities they were not implementing it then PTA meeting was called and there also parentsrepresentative insisted that the court order be followed then they said let the matter be decided at the Syndicate meetingrdquo a protesting student saidldquoRealising about the protest we were planning the authorities have decided to implement the order now he said ldquohellipbut some faculty are instigating Muslim girl students to wear hijab in the classrooms and that they too would wear itrdquo However in a counter a hijabclad Muslim girl student claimed tha the headscarf was part of the uniform for the students who wear it It is also mentioned in the college prospectus and the same was also told to us during an interview by the principal while joiningldquohelliphowever we received unofficial statement in the form of a text message from the college on May 16 stating that hijab is not allowed in the classes and everyone should come in uniformrdquo she said adding that they would meet the districtrsquos Deputy Commissioner on the matter and seek justice also would fight it legallyThe Karnataka High Court on March 15 dismissed petitions filed by a group of Muslim students seeking permission to wear hijab in classroomsThe threejudge Bench of the court consisting of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi further noted that the prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction Constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object toFollowing the High Court order the Department of PreUniversity Education has made uniforms prescribed by the College Development Committee compulsory for PreUniversity PU students from the 202223 academic yearIt also states that in case no uniform is prescribed by the College Development Committee or management students must wear a garment which will ldquomaintain equality and unity and which does not disturb public orderrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever