Row in AP college over traditional dress

The two girl students, in their degree final year, were found loitering in the college corridor when the Principal Father G A P Kishore was making his daily morning rounds. "I asked them what they were doing there and told them to go to the class in uniform (after changing their traditional dress)," the Principal told reporters.

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh): Two-degree students enacted a 'fake hijab' drama at a college in Vijayawada on Thursday, allegedly fearing a reprimand by the college authorities. Eventually, it ended up as a non-issue and things remained normal. The 69-year-old Jesuit educational institution of excellence, reputed for its discipline, never had any such issue in its history.

The two girl students, in their degree final year, were found loitering in the college corridor when the Principal Father G A P Kishore was making his daily morning rounds. "I asked them what they were doing there and told them to go to the class in uniform (after changing their traditional dress)," the Principal told reporters.

According to the police, the girls, instead, called their parents and complained that they were being asked to change into the college uniform and not wear the traditional dress.

"It is a normal practice in the college that girl students who come in their traditional dress remove it for the uniform before entering the class. There is a separate changing room for that and every student follows that," a senior police official pointed out.

"Even these two girls used to do the same every day but somehow they tried to make an issue of it today. Possibly they feared some kind of a reprimand as they came late to college today and the Principal questioned them," the police official said.

The girls' parents, along with some religious persons, came to the college and spoke to the Principal and the issue was settled amicably, the police added. Krishna district Collector J Nivas spoke to the College Principal and enquired about the incident. Interestingly, several other girl students were found freely going in and coming out of the college in their traditional robes and nobody complained.

The Principal noted that every student signed a code of conduct while joining the college, including adherence to the dress code. "We will take a call on whether or not to permit traditional dressing from tomorrow," he said.

PTI