2 more students move K’taka HC seeking permission to wear hijab

Mangaluru: Even as the Karnataka High Court is expected to hear on Tuesday the petition of a student of the government pre-university college in Udupi district seeking permission to wear hijab, two students of a private college at Kundapur here have also approached it with the same plea.

The two students of Bhandarkar’s arts and science college, in their petition, have named the college principal, Mangalore university registrar and Kundapur MLA Halady Srinivas Shetty as the defendants.

In the petition, the students allege that the college has restricted their entry with ‘hijabs’ (headscarf) in the college premises at the instance of the MLA.

The petition has been filed by Suha Maulana and Aisha Aleefa, both pursuing BBA.

The girls pointed out in their petition that there was no dispute on hijabs when they got admission to the college. The principal introduced the restriction all of a sudden on February 3, saying they have a government order restricting hijabs inside classes.

When the parents of the girls met the principal and questioned the decision, the latter told them that the step has been taken as per the direction of the MLA, who is the president of the college development committee, the students said in the petition.