Students who do not wish to comply with hijab rule can move to other colleges: Mangalore University VC

Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University, Prof PS Yadapadithaya has announced that special arrangements will be made to the existing rules if Muslim girl students want to leave the varsity and join another college after its recent ban on hijab on campus. 

In an announcement on Saturday, May 28, the VC said that students of the college are required to follow the rules set by the university, and attend classes without hijab. 

"I am ready to tweak the rules so that the education of Muslim girl students is not hampered. If the students are not ready to follow the rules and wish to shift to other colleges where hijab is allowed, we will make arrangements to issue transfer certificates without any delay as there is a provision for transfer of admissions. We will change the rules and consider it a special case if the intake is full in the college of students' choice. We will waive the fees for students who decide to join other colleges. If the students are not ready to follow the rules or move out of the University College, we will make arrangements to conduct online classes for them," said the VC. 

The VC shared that out of the 44 Muslim girl students at the University College, 10 girls had agreed to come to college without hijab, but the rest have been protesting that they will not attend classes unless they are allowed in hijab. 

Anasuya Rai, Principal of the University College at Hampankatta, tried to convince 12 students who arrived at the college wearing hijabs on Saturday, May 28 and she will hold a meeting with their parents soon in this regard. The college development committee also met again on Saturday. After this meeting, students have been banned from wearing hijab inside the classrooms and the library whereas they can wear it on campus.