UDUPI: The hijab controversy surfaced at Government PU College in Byndoor on Friday as about 12 girls with headscarves were prevented from entering the college. About 150 boys wore saffron shawls to protest the permission for girls to wear hijab. The college management then decided to deny entry to students who came wearing hijab and saffron shawls as well.
Principal of the college M P Naik said that students have been asked to come wearing only the uniform and not any additional attire like hijab or saffron shawls. "Till the government gives an order in this regard, the status quo should be followed," he said. Meanwhile, six students of Government PU College for girls in Udupi, where the hijab issue began, continued their protest outside the campus on Friday.
At Bhandarkar’s College and Government PU College in Kundapur also students wearing hijab were not allowed to attend classes on Friday. Additional police forces were deployed to bring the situation under control as some boys shouted slogans in favour of Lord Ram. Balakrishna Shetty, secretary of CPI (M), Udupi district said that the hijab row that started as a controversy at Women’s Government PU College in Udupi, is now spreading to various other colleges in the district. "When the girls in Kundapur colleges were coming to attend classes wearing hijab, why are they suddenly denied entry now?" he rued.
However, BJP backward morcha’s national general secretary Yashpal Suvarna who is also the vice president of the college development committee of Women’s Government PU College, Udupi, said that left wing organizations which are creating the 'hijab row' are trying to benefit from polarization. "This is an organized way to tarnish the image of the coastal region on the education front as there are internationally famed institutions here," he said.