Hijab Row Surfaces Again: 24 Students Suspended From Class For Wearing Hijab in Karnataka

Karnataka Hijab Row Latest Update: Even as a majority of students are choosing to attend classes, a section was insisting on allowing them to attend classes while wearing hijab.

Bengaluru: At least 24 students studying in a college in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district were on Tuesday suspended for seven days from attending classes for wearing hijab inside the classroom. The authorities of the Uppinangadi Degree College in Puttur taluk took the decision after the students refused to attend classes without taking off their hijab.

The Puttur BJP MLA and the College Development Committee (CDC) chairman Sanjeeva Matandoor told PTI on Tuesday, “The students staged a demonstration so they were suspended.”

According to reports, last week the girls came to the college in Puttur Taluk of Dakshina Kannada district wearing Hijab and protested demanding permission to wear the headscarf.

The latest incident related to hijab comes as Karnataka earlier had issued guidelines for schools and colleges making uniforms compulsory for students without giving any room for wearing hijab in classrooms.

Though a majority of students are choosing to attend classes, a section was insisting on allowing them to attend classes while wearing hijab.

In the meantime, some of the students belonging to the minority community have applied for transfer certificates from education institutions to join other colleges where hijab is allowed.

In response to the application, the college management has communicated to the students that those who wish to attend classes wearing hijab could take transfer certificates.

It must be noted that the hijab matter, which started as a protest by six students of Udupi Pre-University Girl’s College, has turned out to be a major situation in Karnataka over the past year.