At least Five Muslim students have informed Hampanakatta University College that they intend to apply for transfer certificates because they are not permitted to wear the hijab in class, as the hijab ban in educational institutions continues in the BJP-ruling state.
The five students have asked for transfer certificates to attend other colleges, according to Principal Anusuya Rai.
“They informed us verbally that they were going to apply for transfer certificates since we don’t allow hijab in the classroom. However, because they are still taking classes online, they have not yet come to the school to seek transfer certificates,” TNM quotes Rai as saying.
“They will, however, be required to submit a new letter with certain revisions,” she stated that once the students submit the letters, the college administration will decide whether or not to issue the certificates.
Admissions to undergraduate courses in Karnataka will resume this week, after the announcement of PUC-II results.
PS Yadapaditaya, Vice-Chancellor of Mangaluru University, has previously stated that the university would make special facilities for Muslim students who wish to enroll in other colleges due to the hijab restriction. The government had previously stated that the no-hijab dress code did not apply to private or minority institutions that choose their own uniform.
Muslim students in Karnataka have been protesting the ban on hijab in educational institutions, saying the Islamophobic move of the Karnataka government violates their religious freedom guaranteed under India’s constitution.
Muslim students, activists, and Opposition leaders across the country allege that these attacks on Muslim symbols and practices are part of the larger Hindutva agenda of imposing majoritarian values on the country’s 200 million Muslims.
Principal Anusuya Rai was seen speaking with students and asking them not to wear hijabs to college in a video that went viral on social media earlier this month. Basavaraj Bommai, the Chief Minister, reacted to the incident by urging students not to rekindle the hijab ban and to follow the government’s and the High Court’s orders.
In May this year, up to 15 Muslim students at Hampankatta University College were denied permission to attend lectures or use the library because they wore hijabs. Mangaluru University’s decision came a day after students from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidya Parishad (ABVP) staged a demonstration, demanding that the university ban women students from wearing the hijab on campus.
Six students from Uppinangady PU College were also suspended earlier this month for wearing hijabs.
The state government’s prohibition on the hijab in educational institutions with a mandatory uniform was confirmed by the Karnataka High Court, and the hijab has been outlawed on most campuses in the state since then.
