Another Udupi college sends back hijab-clad students

Trouble erupted at the MGM college in Udupi on Thursday (February 24) when some girl students wearing hijabs were sent out of the institution premises by the college principal.

Postgraduate students who sought entry into the college wearing hijabs complained that they are not even allowed to attend the classes or enter the college premises which is in violation of the High Court order.

The students said they could not appear for their examinations earlier due to the row over the hijab issue.

Girl students wearing hijab who came to attend degree classes also left the campus after the order from the principal.

Also read: Why no one knows what sparked the Udupi hijab fire

Meanwhile, the six students of government pre-university college for women in Udupi, who approached the High Court seeking to allow them to wear hijab and attend classes, have appealed to the pre-university board to postpone their practical examinations starting from February 28. In their request, the students said they could not attend classes for the last two months after we were denied entry inside classrooms for wearing headscarves and needed more time to appear for the practical examinations.

Several petitions were filed in the Karnataka High Court on January 31 in which Muslim students sought the right to wear Hijabs in classrooms under Article 14, 19 and 25 of the Constitution of India. The court heard it for the first time on February 8. The high court, in its interim order pending consideration of all such petitions, last week restrained all the students from wearing saffron shawls, scarves, hijab and any religious flag within the classroom.

(With inputs from agencies)