As many as 28 students in two colleges in Mangaluru were sent back home on Wednesday, February 16, for wearing a hijab to class.

Mangaluru police commissioner N Shashi Kumar told reporters that in four other colleges, students who came to classes wearing hijabs were allowed inside classrooms after removing their scarves.

Classes went on smoothly in all the colleges, which reopened today after a week-long holiday declared by the government following trouble in some campuses over the hijab issue. The commissioner said the hijab issue came up in six colleges on the day.

The authorities at Pompei PU College sent back 26 hijab-clad students after telling them about the High Court order, while at the Dayanand Pai Degree College, two students who wore hijab were sent home.

In four other colleges, hijab-clad students were allowed inside classes after removing their headscarves, Shashi Kumar said, adding, there was no case of any student wearing saffron shawls in campuses.