UDUPI: Six students who have been boycotting classes since the last week of December were on Tuesday denied entry into the classroom after they refused to remove the hijab.
On Monday, the Government PU College for girls in Udupi had warned of punitive action if the protesting students do not begin attending classes from Tuesday, without the hijab. “There was police deployment on the campus.
We were told that we could enter the classroom only if we removed the hijab. We sat inside the campus till 1. 40pm. Several lecturers tried to tell us to give up our fight and attend classes,” said Almas, one of the students.
She said they will continue to come to college in the hijab and keep asking for permission to attend classes wearing it.
Incidentally, February 1 is celebrated as World Hijab Day.
The students said they plan to take legal recourse as the college authorities are unable to resolve the stand-off.
“We will fight for this cause legally. At the meeting held yesterday, we did not agree to attend classes without the hijab. We have tried all possible ways to convince the authorities,’’ the students said and accused MLA Raghupathi Bhat, also president of the College Betterment Committee, of threatening them.
Bhat had warned the students against vitiating the college atmosphere with their protests and creating chaos with exams fast approaching.
The six students also participated in a seminar to mark World Hijab Day.
