On Monday, an independent postgraduate government college in Madhya Pradesh issued a notice asking students to avoid wearing “religion-specific attire,” like the hijab, on campus. The college principal has issued an order instructing all the students not to come to class wearing any religious or community-specific garb but rather to dress decently.
According to some reports, the incident occurred on Monday, when Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Durga Vahini volunteers gathered at the Agrani Government Autonomous PG College in Datia town after spotting two students wearing the hijab on the college campus. They protested and organized a demonstration in the college.
The college administration, headed by the principal, DR Rahul, attempted to identify the two students who were seen wearing Hijab/Burqa at the college. “By the time we tried to find those students, they had already left the college. An order was subsequently issued by the college, asking students to wear only civilized and decent clothes, not any religious attire inside the college campus.” the principal said.
As some reports suggest, the incident occurred three days after an M. Com student at the same college was permitted to write her third-semester exam in a burqa. But she was allowed only after signing an undertaking not to wear the hijab on campus again. After students from different communities opposed her attire in college, the student, identified as Ruksana Khan, was made to comply with the rule.
The Karnataka hijab row
The hijab controversy that started in a pre-University college in Karnataka has spread to several districts and even in other states. The controversy erupted when some Muslim girl students of PU college in Udupi insisted on wearing hijab in classrooms. They were denied entry into the classes by the college management stating that any attire other than the prescribed uniform is not allowed in the classrooms. Following that, the matter was raised to the Karnataka High Court where the case is being heard by a bench of three judges headed by the Chief Justice of Karnataka.
The court has ordered that all students are to follow dress code rules and avoid wearing any religious apparel while the proceedings are ongoing and till an adjudication is made. The matter is scheduled to be heard today from 02:30 PM onwards.