While the resoluteness of Muslim girl students in coastal Karnataka has exposed the prejudiced attitude of several school administrations, it also unmasked the saffronized faces that creep inside the students’ organizations and playing behind the scene.
Yet another episode of saffronization of education institutions came to light on Thursday when Hindu students of Shivammoga and Udupi Districts have turned up to their college at Kundapur Taluk wearing saffron scarves to protest against the use of Hijab by the Muslim girl students of the institution.
It is said that, to protest against the use of hijab by Muslim girls, around 100 boys wearing saffron shawls attended the college on Wednesday. The chucklesome incident is said to have been orcherested by a few pro-Hindu organizations playing behind the scene only to flare up the hijab controversy with an aim to gain political mileage.
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After a government-run women’s college in Udupi district barred the entry of Hijab-wearing Muslim girls, the morbid mentality spreads to other schools too in the state. A principal of a government PU College in Kundapur Taluk barred Muslim girls from attending the classes asking them to remove their hijab before entering the school premises.
The anxious Muslim girls heard soliciting the teacher not to spoil their future by barring them from entering the classes. One of the girls even argued in a somber voice that the management should have explained rules beforehand instead of rolling them out of the blue. “You haven’t informed us anything earlier and brought it all of a sudden. Only two days earlier you informed us but can we leave what tradition we followed? You just spoiling our education with a gripe that the government has issued the rules,” said the Muslim girl.
Impassively responding to her, the teacher was heard saying that “I cannot do anything. Either decided by MLA or the Government, I have to abide by it being a government servant. I have to follow the guidelines. If you questioned me, you won’t get any answer.”
ALSO READ: Hijab row spreads to more K’taka colleges, threatens academic environment
This is the second such case in a month in Karnataka state. The episode of ‘safforonization of education’ in Karnataka came to light when the management of government-run women’s college in Udupi district of the south Indian state of Karnataka barred six Muslim girl students from entering their classroom wearing hijab saying that covering the body from head to waist is against the dress code of the institution.
It is learned that the Karnataka Government is contemplating rolling out dress code wrapping under guidelines. This has no doubt raised eyebrows in among the Muslim community especially of pro-Muslim organizations having influence over the community.