UDUPI: College students in several parts of Udupi and Kundapur are divided over the hijab issue. As both sides -- one demanding hijab, and another opposing it -- appear to be unrelenting, a harmonious resolution does not seem to be in sight. Rights activists say that students who faced many problems due to the pandemic are now feeling insecure about their future due to the vitriolic campus atmosphere from the past week.
According to some observers in the education sector, videos on social media platforms of students protesting wearing the hijab and saffron shawls are further vitiating the atmosphere and prompting many students to take sides.
Ganesh Mogaveera, principal of Sri Venkataramana PU College, Kundapur, told TNIE that when the hijab row first erupted at a government college in Udupi, videos were widely shared on social media platforms.
“Though students are not allowed to bring mobile phones to our college, some get them and keep them at their regular hangouts. After college hours, they watch such videos and get provoked. Today, we stopped some students when they tried to wear saffron shawls in our college,” he said.
Educationist and child rights activist of Udupi, BK Narayan, felt that the hijab issue is very unfortunate. ‘It has emerged at this juncture of the pandemic, when children had faced lots of problems in their academics. Due to the pandemic, teachers are also under stress to complete the syllabus. Insecurity and ego due to caste, creed, and economic status should not be there among students,’’ he stressed, adding that those qualities, if planted in young minds, could be detrimental.
Meanwhile, MGM College in Udupi got caught in the hijab issue on Monday, with the management advising some students not to wear it from Tuesday onwards in the light of the government’s recent order. Some boys, however, insisted that if hijab is allowed, they will wear saffron shawls.
Meanwhile, activist Hussain Kodibengre said the hijab is a fundamental right of Muslim girls, and it should be allowed.