BENGALURU: Contending that neither the Karnataka Education Act nor the rules framed under the Act delegate powers to the College Development Committee (CDC) to prescribe any uniform, senior advocate Ravivarma Kumar on Wednesday argued before the Karnataka High Court that entrusting the welfare of
students to CDC headed by an MLA or MP belonging to a political party or ideology is a death note to democracy.
Kumar, representing petitioner-students who have questioned the order issued by the state government on February 5, 2022, banning hijab, argued that the CDC was constituted to utilise grants, maintain academic standards and develop infrastructure, and not for welfare of students.
By any stretch of imagination, CDC cannot prescribe uniforms or entrust to use ‘police powers’ to discipline the students. “An MLA or MP cannot be entrusted with any power either under the statute or under the Constitution,” he said.
Support for protesting girls
“Post the interim order, we are witness to the public humiliation of Muslim students and staff, who are being forced to remove their hijab before entering schools and colleges, purportedly on instructions of the district administration.
This disrobing of Muslim girls and women in public view is inhuman, derogatory and an affront to the Constitution and amounts to public humiliation of the entire community,” the letter read.
The letter has been signed by 765 people, including lawyers, law students, professors, journalists, writers and teachers. In the light of the recent happenings, the signatories have asked the High Court to pass prohibitory orders to prevent any such “derogatory practices”.
Tension in Tumakuru
Chaos prevailed at the century-old Government Empress PU College for Girls in Tumakuru when a group of students protested on being denied entry into the campus wearing the hijab.
Vijayapura students protest
At Government PU college in Vijayapura, students staged a flash protest after they were asked to remove the hijab. “Hijab is the first priority for us and exams are next,” said the students.