- Thursday, February 27, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
A GROUP of Muslim girls at a government-run college in the southern Indian state of Karnataka have found themselves locking horns with the administration over their right to wear the ‘hijab’ (headscarf worn by women from the religion) and they have now moved the court to find a solution to the fight.
The dispute originated at a pre-university (PU) college in Udupi in the state in December last year when the students attended their class wearing the headgear. Fatima, one of the students aged 17 said as soon as they entered the classroom, the teachers began scolding them.
She said they even complained to the principal about them wearing ‘hijab’.
The principal allowed them to attend the class on the first day but he also called the students’ parents, the girl told The Independent.
“Our parents also requested them [to allow us to wear] the headscarf,” said Zainab, another student who is also among the protesters.
“Not once but many times. They did not listen,” she added.
On Tuesday (1), the girls, numbering eight, were again denied permission to enter the classroom wearing the headscarves.
The lack of clarity over uniforms in the government-run colleges in the state has fuelled the controversy, The Independent reported. According to The Indian Express, Karnataka’s department of undergraduate education does not mandate uniforms for its colleges and individual institutions have made their own rules.
The government run by prime minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set up an expert committee to address the issue. The body will review judgments in the country’s supreme court and various state high courts over a dress code, the government said in an order dated January 25.
Till then, the students need to abide by the uniform code as devised by the respective institutions, The News Minute reported. The government has not laid out a timeline for the committee to submit its report either.
The college in Udupi has said that wearing a hijab is not in tune with its uniform code but the students have refused to agree. They told The Independent that the headgear forms an important part of their identity and the college rule infringes their right to practice their religion which is guaranteed in the Indian Constitution.
“In Islam, it’s very important to wear the headscarves,” Fatima said. “We cannot show our head to other men … We cannot show our hair to others. It is our duty to wear hijab. Hijab is my pride and dignity,” she added.
Zainab echoed Fatima saying wearing a ‘hijab’ is her constitutional right.
“India being a secular country, even I have the right to practice my religion,” she told The Independent.
She also alleged that the battle for their right to wear the ‘hijab’ has become like a “mental torture” as she accused Raghupathi Bhat, a local BJP lawmaker, of threatening them.
“The first thing we are worried about is our education because they are not letting us inside the class,” Zainab, who aspires to become a wildlife photographer, said. “Mentally, we are disturbed.”
When The Independent spoke to Bhat, he said the college has had a uniform since 1985 and added that while the girls are allowed to wear ‘hijab’ inside the compound, they cannot carry it in the classroom.
“There are 75 other Muslim girls who are studying in the college and since 1985, everyone is following [the dress code]. These girls are in the second year but for one and a half years [when in the 11th standard], they have also attended the school without wearing a hijab,” he told the UK outlet.
“We do not have a problem with them wearing ‘hijab’ outside, even in the college compound. But inside the classroom, there is equality in the uniform of Hindus, Muslims and Christians,” Bhat said, adding, “the meaning of uniform is that it is equal for everyone”.
Mohammed Tahir, who is legally representing the upset girls, told The Independent, “In practice, there is no law in Karnataka which says there should be uniform in Pre-University College for 11th and 12th standard.
“And there is a guideline from the PU College department as well for the year 2021-2022. It clearly states that there cannot be a uniform for PU Colleges. And if any authority or college tries to impose the uniform, they are liable for action,” he said.
Bhat said the country’s constitution allows institutions to mandate uniforms. “They have not read the constitution properly,” he said. “They are allowed to wear hijab publicly and in their private places. But inside institutions, they have some discipline and they have to follow that.”
Before joining the college, the girls knew that the ‘hijab’ is not a part of their uniform, Bhat said.
“Now because of outside provocation, they are doing this,” the BJP leader, who is in charge of the college development committee, said but did not clarify what the source of the provocation might be.
“We have 1,000 other girls, who are disciplined, including 75 Muslim girls. They are studying here still. You please hear from them,” he said while countering allegations of communal bias.
Meanwhile, the college development committee suggested that the students opt for online classes until the issue is resolved by the state’s saffron government.
But the girls dumped the school’s offer, calling it discriminatory.
“How can they hold online classes for only eight students?” Fatima asked. “When others are attending offline classes, why should we take them online? It is complete discrimination.”
The students have moved the Karnataka High Court seeking interim relief.
In a plea filed on Friday (4), they asked the court to ask the authorities to allow them “to attend classes with their headscarf without any bias and discrimination” and that the students be marked present for all days when they were forced to leave the class.
They are confident that they demand will be heard.
Meanwhile, the ‘hijab’ controversy was spreading to more colleges in Karnataka with one allegedly closing its doors on students wearing the same and Hindu students in at least two other colleges sporting saffron scarves in protest.
Officials at the government PU college in Kundapur in Udupi district allegedly refused to allow students wearing ‘hijabs’ even as they sought permission to attend the classes, ThePrint reported.
The matter turned worse when more than 40 students from India’s majority community reportedly wore saffron scarves to protest against their Muslim colleagues wearing ‘hijabs’, the report added.
Similar scenes were seen at Bhandarkar’s Art and Science College, a private institution in Kundapur and Sir M Vishweshwaraiah Government Arts and Commerce College in Bhadravati of Shivamogga district of the state.
