The students of Mangalore University staged a protest on Thursday, 26 May, against Muslim female students for having worn hijab to classroom.
Condemning the university authorities for not implementing the hijab ban order by the Karnataka High Court, the students have called for suspension of Muslim female students.
Speaking to reporters, Vinay, a first-year university student protesting against the hijab said, "It has been months since the court passed the order. But, they continue to wear hijab. The rule has not been implemented in our college. The authorities called for parents-teachers meeting and informed them not wear hijab. But, no rule was followed."
The protesting Hindu students are alleging that over 40 Muslim students attended classes wearing a hijab. This was done despite authorities asking the students to abide by the Karnataka High Court's order during two sets of meetings that were held last month.
Opposing the Muslim students wearing the hijab, Hindu students boycotted the class and started protesting in front of the university campus. The students have also said that they would not attend any of the classes unless the matter is resolved.
"Our demand is that all these Muslim students who wore hijab must be suspended. We also appeal to the authorities to remove the elected student union leader who has been speaking against the court order," added a Hindu student from Mangalore University.
Meanwhile, the female students who wore hijab to the class, have claimed that the high court's order is being misread and misquoted, as it does not mention uniform for graduate-level students.
"Even when the order came out, there were no incidents of violence. The college prospectus also says we can wear what we want. Why are they raking up this issue again? Today we are not being allowed to attend classes or even sit inside the library," Fathima Shazma told the reporters in Mangaluru.
Muslim girls students have also written to the vice-chancellor of the university asking him to allow students wearing hijab inside classrooms. However, they have been denied permission and have been asked to approach the deputy commissioner.
As of now, the Muslim female students have approached the deputy commissioner writing to him their concerns and have asked for immediate solution in this regard so that they can resume their studies.
Earlier in March, the Karnataka High Court bench comprising of Justices JM Khazi and Krishna Dixit and led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi had ruled that wearing a hijab was not essential to Islam and that no compelling case was made out for invalidating the government order against it.
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