MANGALURU: The St Joseph Engineering College at Vamanjoor in Mangaluru in Karnataka suspended four male students after a video of them dancing in burqa went viral sparking outrage on social media.
The students had danced to a popular Bollywood track during an inaugural programme at the college. The video had gone viral on Wednesday night and netizens had termed the dance 'obscene'.
After the short clip of the performance went viral on social media, the college authorities stepped in and suspended the students pending an enquiry. The students who are suspended belong to the Muslim community, college sources said.
The college management in a press note said that a cultural programme was organised on the occasion of freshers day of a department.
"The video clip being circulated on social media has captured a part of the dance by the students of the Muslim community itself who barged onto the stage during the informal part of the students association's inaugural function. It was not part of the approved programme and the students involved have been suspended pending an enquiry. The college does not support or condone any activities that could harm the harmony between communities and everyone on campus knows that strict guidelines are in place in this regard," said Dr Sudheer M, Principal in-charge of St Joseph Engineering college.
Those who have been suspended are third-year engineering students but we do not know why they had to dance in such a manner despite hailing from the same community at a time when the issue of the Hijab is being discussed across campuses, said a college student on condition of anonymity.