The Rajiv Gandhi College of Well being Sciences (RGUHS) Wednesday launched an investigation into the alleged hijab ban at a nursing faculty in Bengaluru after a Jammu and Kashmir college students’ physique sought the intervention of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
In a illustration to CM Siddaramaiah Tuesday, the Jammu and Kashmir College students Affiliation (JKSA) alleged that the administration of Sri Soubhagya Lalitha Faculty of Nursing prevented 4 college students from attending lessons for sporting the hijab or burkha and threatened them with expulsion.
Talking to The Indian Categorical, Riyaz Basha, registrar (analysis) at RGUHS, stated, “Now we have already heard the submission made by the faculty principal and the chairman. Now we have referred to as the Kashmiri college students to RGUHS to listen to their account, after which we are going to take acceptable motion consistent with authorities norms.”
In line with the submissions made by the faculty administration, the officers had solely directed the removing of hijabs for identification functions earlier than getting into the sensible class.
“The school administration clarified that they requested the women to take away the hijab with a veil, for identification and verification functions, in order that there is no such thing as a impersonation, earlier than getting into the sensible lessons. Nevertheless, they had been requested to put on it again later. Moreover, the burkha or hijab will not be allowed at medical postings or affected person visits. As a substitute, college students ought to persist with the uniforms (apron) for such functions,” stated Basha.
He added, “On the outset, RGUHS ensures there is no such thing as a such discrimination on a spiritual foundation. Guidelines are enforced consistent with affected person care and college students’ pursuits.”
‘Kashmiri college students systematically focused, humiliated’
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Nasir Khuehami, nationwide convener of the JKSA, claimed that college students had been denied entry into lecture rooms and sensible periods for the previous a number of days solely due to their spiritual apparel. “These Kashmiri feminine college students have been systematically focused, humiliated, and denied their elementary proper to training as a result of they put on the burkha or abaya — an expression of modesty, dignity, and identification rooted of their spiritual and private beliefs,” he stated.
In line with Khuehami, the faculty chairman entered the classroom and ordered hijab-wearing college students to depart instantly. “When the scholars sought clarification, they had been informed, ‘That is our faculty; solely our guidelines apply.’ The chairman and principal allegedly threatened to terminate their admissions and withhold educational information in the event that they continued to put on the hijab,” he stated.
Khuehami acknowledged that the scholars had been warned they might not be permitted on campus until they eliminated their hijabs. He famous that there is no such thing as a official or authorized coverage in place to implement such a ban. Moreover, he claimed that the scholars had been instructed to stick to “so-called college guidelines” that prohibit hijabs and burqas, which he argued don’t exist below regulation.
The school administration was additionally stated to have justified its stance by claiming that different college students had objected to the presence of hijab-wearing friends. “The chairman reportedly informed the scholars that ‘hijab and purdah usually are not allowed for medical college students anyplace within the nation, not even in Kashmir’, and even declared that ‘no article or elementary proper is relevant in our faculty’,” Khuehami stated, calling these remarks “absurd, Islamophobic stereotypes”.
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Terming the faculty’s conduct a “direct and harmful violation” of the Structure, Khuehami stated the establishment had did not uphold the rights assured below Articles 25 (freedom of faith), 15 (prohibition of discrimination), and 21A (proper to training). “Forcing college students to decide on between their religion and their training is each unconscionable and unconstitutional,” he stated.
In 2022, Karnataka witnessed a hijab controversy when a authorities pre-university faculty in Udupi banned the apparel inside lecture rooms. This led to protests by many college students, and the controversy sparked counter-protests from Hindu college students who wore saffron shawls. The Karnataka authorities then banned spiritual apparel in establishments with obligatory gown codes, and the Karnataka Excessive Courtroom upheld the federal government order. The matter later reached the Supreme Courtroom, which delivered a cut up verdict and referred it to a bigger bench for a remaining ruling.