After student protests broke out in Moradabad’s Hindu College over ban on entry of students wearing the Burqa, the college authorities have clarified that this isn’t a hijab ban but only a burqa ban.
Hindu College, which is one of the oldest colleges in the state of Uttar Pradesh, has a total of over twelve thousand students enrolled in its multiple courses, many of whom are Muslims. Ruckus ensued when on 1 January, a new dress code— a uniform of grey and white —was sanctioned by the university authorities for its students. The dress code began being imposed properly by the third week of January, when burqa-clad students were stopped from entering the university premises, following which many sat on protests challenging the rule.
The incident was widely reported as being a ‘hijab ban’, drawing parallels with the Karnataka hijab ban imposed across the state’s government schools and colleges.