6 Karnataka Students Suspended for Wearing Hijab in College, 12 Sent Back

The college authorities said that the decision was taken in adherence to the high court's order.

Six students were suspended from the Government First Grade Degree College in Karnataka's Uppinangady on Thursday, 2 June, for donning hijab

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Six students were suspended from the Government First Grade Degree College in Karnataka's Uppinangady on Thursday, 2 June, for donning the hijab.

The college authorities claimed that the students were asked to stop wearing the hijab inside the classroom and that they were warned on multiple occasions.

The students were suspended in order to "contain violence and to prevent the issue from escalating," the college authorities said. They added that the decision was taken in adherence to the high court's order.

In another instance, Mangaluru University College near Hampanakatte sent back 12 students who came wearing hijabs on Thursday, news agency IANS reported. The college principal denied them entry into classrooms.

After a protracted row over the wearing of the hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka, the state's high court on 15 March upheld a ban on Muslim girls wearing the hijab with their uniforms in schools and colleges.

The high court had dismissed the writ petitions filed by Muslim girl students seeking permission to wear hijabs in colleges, stating that the garment was not part of the 'Essential Religious Practice' and that no compelling case was made out for invalidating the government order against it.

Earlier in May, 13 students of Mangalore University were stopped from attending their classes as they were wearing the hijab. The students claimed that the high court's order was being misread and misquoted, as it did not mention uniforms for graduate-level students.

In April, two students, Aliya Assadi and Resham, enrolled in the Government PU College for Girls, Udupi, were not allowed to give their Pre-University exam (Class 12 board exams) and were asked to leave the examination hall for wearing the hijab.