New Delhi: A student of Udipi College moved the Karnataka High Court after being denied to enter classes for wearing hijab.
According to a report on The Indian Express, the writ petition filed on behalf of the student concerned, Resham Farooq, says that under Article 14 and 25 of the Constitution, the right to wear hijab is a fundamental right and is a key practice in Islam.
Notably, six students who were boycotting classes since the last week of December, were again denied entry to the classes as they were wearing the headscarves.
“We were told that we could enter the classroom only if we removed the hijab. We sat inside the campus till 1. 40pm. Several lecturers tried to tell us to give up our fight and attend classes,” said Almas, one of the students, as quoted by The Times of India.
Accusing MLA Raghupathi Bhat, also president of the College Betterment Committee, of threatening them, the students, as quoted by The Times of India, said, “We will fight for this cause legally. At the meeting held yesterday, we did not agree to attend classes without the hijab. We have tried all possible ways to convince the authorities.”
The controversy erupted earlier this month when seven Muslim students were not allowed to enter the classes as they were wearing hijab. They spent almost a month outside the college before the institute shut down for weeks after some of its students tested positive for Covid-19.
The college, however, in its statement had said that it took the step to maintain ‘uniformity’.
Meanwhile, the ban on hijab inside classrooms has triggered both positive and negative reactions from political parties and other organisations.
Udupi legislator and Bharatiya Janata Party leader K Raghupathi Bhat said that he has met the parents of the students who were denied entry and told them that if their wards have decided to stick to their decision of wearing the headscarves to the classroom, then they should refrain from attending classes as wearing hijab would ‘pollute the atmosphere of the college’.