The six students of Government Pre University College for Girls in Udupi, who have approached the Karnataka High Court seeking direction to the college to allow them to wear hijab in classrooms, continue to stay away from classes.
They did not go to the college on February 16 when the college was reopened after remaining closed since February 9.
The controversy over the dress code had originated in Government Pre University College for Girls in Udupi before spreading to other parts of Karnataka.
The controversy erupted at the college after 12 girls submitted a memorandum to the principal on December 30 to allow them to wear hijab in classrooms. Later, six of them agreed to attend classes without the hijab while the remaining six have not been attending the classes since then.
Other Muslim girls in the same college attended classes on February 16 by removing the burqa and hijab after entering the campus, like they used to earlier.
Meanwhile, classes resumed in pre-university colleges in Kundapura, Udupi district, which had witnessed protests by students wearing hijab and saffron shawls last week.
A lecturer of the Government Pre University College in Kundapura said classes went on as usual along with preparatory examinations for Class 10 students. The pre-university college and the high school are in the same premises.
Some Muslim students at the pre-university college came with hijab and removed it in a separate room before entering the classroom while some did not come to the campus demanding to be allowed to wear the hijab.
Classes were conducted at Bhandarkars’ Pre University College and R.N. Shetty Pre University College in Kundapur. Outsiders have been barred from entering the premises of these two colleges.
“The atmosphere in the college is tense now. With presence of police, we feel like being in a restricted place,” said a first-year BA student of Bhandarkars’ College.
