Hijab row in Udupi: Students refuse to attend online classes, demand to end discrimination

Six students of Government Girls PU college in Karnataka's Udupi district who are embroiled in the hijab row, on Thursday rejected a suggestion from college authorities to attend online classes, further terming the suggestion 'discriminatory'.

Udupi: Six students of Government Girls PU college in Karnataka's Udupi district, embroiled in the hijab row, have now turned down the suggestion from the college development committee that they should opt for online classes if they are adamant about wearing the headscarf in the classroom.

After the refusal of permission from college authorities to wear hijabs in class, the six have been boycotting classes for the last four weeks.

Addressing reporters in Udupi on Thursday, the students, who are staging the protest, said wearing hijab is their constitutional right and they are not willing to attend online classes which are 'discriminatory.'

Asked about other girls from the community attending classes without hijab, they said girls are not coming forward as they are scared of the problems they may face.

Education and rights are equally important, they further said.

Earlier, Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat, also chairman of the college development committee, had said on Wednesday that the education department had ordered a status quo on the dress code in classrooms.

“A high-level committee has been constituted by the department to study the dress code in colleges in other states. If they are persisting with their demand, they can choose online classes”, he had also noted.