17-year-old student ready to take hijab fight to President
By Deepthi Shridhar
Updated Sunday, 14 August 2011 17:08:46 - IST (UTC +5:30)
Mangalore :Hadiya says she hasn’t attended classes in protest for more than a month
A Muslim girl student has taken her fight for the right to wear a headscarf in class out of the campus and into the domain of the state. In a letter to Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Channappa Gowda, she has sought official permission to do so. She has also indicated that if she fails to get a positive response from the DC, she will go all the way up to the Governor and then the President of India.
Hadiya, a II PUC (commerce) student of Jain PU College, Moodbidri, told Bangalore Mirror, “There is no question of stepping back. Though the response from the DC was not very encouraging, I will wait till he gets back to me, either directly or through the college. In case I fail to get a positive response, after consulting my elders, I will write to the Governor and the President of India,” she said, adding that the DC had hinted that she change the college.
The DC said, “We will examine the issue in detail after speaking to both parties and also considering the situation prevalent in other colleges of Mangalore.”
Hadiya had stopped going to college for over a month after she was not allowed to wear a headscarf in the classroom. She claims she has been fighting for her cause for a year, and that a signature campaign initiated by her got the support of 50 Muslim and 15 non-Muslim students.
She claims the principal later called the non-Muslim students and asked them to sign a letter to the effect that she had forced them to support her cause. “The principal says I am creating tension in the college. I am only fighting for a cause. I want to continue my studies. Despite not attending classes, I constantly update my notes with the help of classmates in my neighbourhood. Initially, I was allowed to sit in the ladies’ room. Now I have been asked not to come to the college,” she said.
According to her mother Hina, the family has no problem with the college but only wants permission for Hadiya to observe ‘hijab’. Umaira Khatun, a social worker, said ‘hijab’ is a part of the religion and should be permitted. “We do not intend to bring a bad name to the college,” she said.
Abhijith M, secretary of the Jain Vidyavardhaka Sangha that runs the college, said, “The restriction on hijab is only inside the classroom. We have no problem if Hadiya comes with the headscarf upto the corridor. But inside the classroom the uniform has to be followed.” There is a ladies’ room where a provision has been made for Muslim students to leave their burkhas, he said.
“Last year, she attended college without a headscarf. This year, all of a sudden she has become particular about it,” he said, adding that some students who had supported Hadiya’s signature campaign have given in writing that they were not aware why she had collected signatures.
Meanwhile, the management has decided to set up a two-member inquiry panel comprising the secretary and the correspondent of the Sangha. “Once we receive directions from the Deputy Commissioner, a decision will be taken without hurting religious sentiments while at the same time upholding the values of the college. We have not suspended her, Hadiya has stopped coming to college on her own,” Abjhijit clarified.
“In the past 39 years, hijab has never been an issue in our college. There are 980 students, of whom 30 per cent are Muslims,” said college correspondent Prathap Kumar.
Two years ago, Aysha Ashmin (19), a I B Com student of Sri Venkataraman Swamy (SVS) College, Bantwal, had made a similar complaint about not being allowed to wear a headscarf in class. Subsequently, she changed her college.
Bangaloreans respond on the emotive issue
In India, where women prefer to cover themselves, not necessarily as part of a religious duty, I do not understand how an educational institution can take such a step.
— Zeenath Munshi, entrepreneur
The girl has every right to wear a scarf or even a burkha. In our country, which boasts about being secular when a Hindu girl is allowed in class with a bindi, sindoor, bangles, why is a Muslim girl being targeted?
— Eepsha Singh, final-year engineering student
Colleges should focus on teaching rather than on what students wear. It’s the girl’s choice, just as any other girl or boy has the freedom to wear what they want. Why is the college inviting trouble by focusing on such trivial issues? What is next — a ban on burkhas? They’re imitating European countries, I guess, and they feel they are right.
— Shahid Quadri, student
We are not allowed to wear sleeveless dresses in our college so we take care to abide by it. If the college rules specify that a person is not allowed to wear a headscarf, she should definitely follow it. She can wear what she wants otherwise, but on a college campus, one must follow the campus rules. It’s a rule that has to be followed in any country, it’s not about being secular and stuff.
— Vaishnavi P, student
(Inputs from Farheen Hussain)
Tags: Deepthi Shridhar
-
YET another link to the terror web cast by the RSS and its affiliates has been established with the arrest of one Kamal Chauhan by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged involvement...
2012-02-21 16:47:22 |
0 comments -
Islamabad: Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned the acting US envoy and lodged a “strong protest” over the tabling of a resolution in the US Congress seeking the right to...
2012-02-21 14:08:13 |
0 comments -
New Delhi: At a time when world economy is in bad shape, EU zone and US are facing grave financial crises, America and allies maneuvering to find a face saving exit from the mess, creation of their...
2012-02-21 14:03:38 |
0 comments -
Tehran: Senior UN inspectors arrived in Iran on Monday to push for transparency about its disputed nuclear programme, a day after Tehran responded defiantly to tightened EU sanctions by halting oil...
2012-02-21 14:00:20 |
0 comments
-
Kabul: The commander of international troops in Afghanistan has ordered an investigation into what NATO says was improper disposal of a large number of Islamic religious materials, including...
2012-02-21 13:52:32 |
0 comments -
New Delhi: An RSS sympathiser in Jharkhand has told investigators that months before the February 2007 terrorist attack on the Samjhauta Express, he had seen detonators similar to the ones used in...
2012-02-21 13:48:09 |
0 comments -
“The Delhi : Police has turned Jamia Nagar into a hunting ground. Residents of the area are being made the scapegoat for every criminal activity and terrorist attack. The entire locality is in the...
2012-02-21 13:41:57 |
0 comments -
Tehran: Tehran will cut oil exports to more EU nations if they remain hostile, the deputy oil minister who heads Iran's state oil company said today, a day after sales were halted to France and...
2012-02-21 13:35:51 |
0 comments
-
Chandigarh: Five men arrested last week in Patiala on charges of planning a dacoity have confessed to carrying out at least four bombings targeted at Muslims in Haryana in 2009 and 2010, police said...
2012-02-21 13:32:01 |
0 comments -
Feb. 20 -- Iran stopped sales of crude to French and British buyers to pre-empt a European Union ban on imports of its oil and as OPEC’s second-biggest producer negotiates contracts to supply...
2012-02-20 23:13:45 |
0 comments -
After years of relentlessly seeking to bring the weight of international pressure against Iran through sanctions, the United States and other Western powers appeared to be backing off from a hawkish...
2012-02-20 23:09:11 |
0 comments -
SYDNEY: A clinical Sri Lanka rode on captain Mahela Jayawardene's unbeaten half century to register their first win of the cricket tri-series with an eight-wicket crushing of Australia in a...
2012-02-18 15:40:17 |
0 comments
-
New Delhi: Supreme Court has stayed trail of TADA cases against Abu Salem, in which convict my be punished with death sentences. Abu Salem is facing charges for his alleged role in 1993 Mumbai serial...
2012-02-18 11:28:58 |
0 comments -
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday said castration would be the most befitting punishment for paedophiles and repeat offenders of child sexual abuse. The court’s observation came while sentencing a...
2012-02-18 11:04:46 |
0 comments -
Startling revelations by Kamal Chouhan, an RSS activist, are helping investigators understand how the Samjhauta Express bombs were brought to the capital, who all took it to the railway station and...
2012-02-18 10:55:28 |
0 comments -
New Delhi: The UPA Government is concerned over the possibility of the covert Israel- Iran conflict spilling over in the national capital, with Israel repeatedly pointing an accusing finger at Iran...
2012-02-16 13:10:59 |
0 comments
-
Ahmedabad: In fresh trouble for the Narendra Modi government, the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday issued a contempt notice to it for not obeying its order to compensate people whose shops were burnt...
2012-02-16 12:06:47 |
0 comments -
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday started hearing the debate on legality of decriminalising same sex behaviour in private among consenting adults by asking contestants whether the “order of...
2012-02-16 11:40:53 |
0 comments
-
Tehran: Senior UN inspectors arrived in Iran on Monday to push for transparency about its disputed nuclear programme, a day after Tehran responded defiantly to tightened EU sanctions by halting oil...
2012-02-21 14:00:20 |
0 comments -
“The Delhi : Police has turned Jamia Nagar into a hunting ground. Residents of the area are being made the scapegoat for every criminal activity and terrorist attack. The entire locality is in the...
2012-02-21 13:41:57 |
0 comments -
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response from the Union home ministry, Delhi Police and Maharashtra's ATS on the petition of Taqi Ahmad, brother of arrested accused Naquee, seeking a...
2012-02-15 18:57:08 |
0 comments -
Mumbai: Muslims would have been termed terrorists or ISI agents and sent to jail if they had protested to take possession of Ismail Yusuf College the way Dalits did to get the Indu Mill land for...
2012-02-15 18:16:10 |
0 comments
-
The Hindu Mohammad Aamir Khan and his mother at their home in New Delhi. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma The incredible story of boy ‘terrorist' Mohammad Aamir whose youth was destroyed because of his...
2012-02-15 11:33:14 |
0 comments -
Mumbai: A Bombay court granted bail to Abdul Wahab Umar and Qamar Alam Shaikh and Nasim Khan on Wednesday, who were arrested by the Anti Terrorist Squad, Maharashtra. Umar and Sheikh are the students...
2012-01-12 19:47:52 |
0 comments -
Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh): A single bamboo stick holds the thatched roof together, the discoloured floor serves as both bench and chair, the kids sit in neat rows and a man sits on a printed mattress....
2012-01-06 12:22:54 |
0 comments -
New Delhi, 3 January 2012: According to the Report of the Returning Officer Mr A R Shervani today, 3 January 2012, Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan has been elected as the President of the AIMMM for a term of...
2012-01-04 15:03:29 |
0 comments
-
What is wrong with our education system and what could be done to set things right? This is an important question and needs answer for improvement. Dr. Manzoor Aalm dwelt with the question in a brief...
2011-10-22 19:50:07 |
0 comments -
India is at the threshold of a New Deal for 200 million Muslims of India, at the behest of the world's super power, the USA. Signs are unmistakable that the initiative has been forced on India by the...
2011-09-19 15:14:17 |
0 comments -
Cutting through the hype and getting down to brass tacks, amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran explains to Ashish Khetan the Supreme Court order in the 2002 Gujarat massacre case The Supreme Court...
2011-09-15 13:30:41 |
0 comments -
A cross section of the Muslims of India have expressed their deep concern over the Government's summary and unjust rejection of the well researched Study titled "Promises to Keep" done by India's...
2011-09-05 20:32:30 |
0 comments
-
17-year-old student ready to take hijab fight to...
Moodbidri college student is determined to wear headscarf in classroom. She has sought Dakshina Kannada DC’s intervention and says if required she would move the Rashtrapati Bhavan Mangalore...
2011-08-14 17:16:46 |
0 comments -
Israel's approval of construction plans for 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem has triggered an international condemnation, and reignited a dispute with Washington over the threat of new settlements to...
2011-08-14 16:22:07 |
0 comments -
New Delhi: Agony of nine Muslim youths, arrested in the 2006 Malegaon blast that killed 38 people, is likely to end soon as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has decided not to oppose their...
2011-08-11 18:59:12 |
0 comments -
New Delhi : The government’s Haj subsidy bill is set to reduce further as the Ministry of Civil Aviation has shortlisted two private carriers to operate the Haj flights, said ministry officials....
2011-08-11 13:09:14 |
0 comments
-
A glimmer of hope, yes! But it is not enough. That's what those wrongly implicated in the Mecca Masjid blast case think of the compensation recommended by the National Commission for Minorities...
2011-08-10 23:55:31 |
0 comments -
Mumbai- The state government has sought the Home Department’s opinion on ordering a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the purchase of Wakf land on Altamount Road by Reliance Industries...
2011-08-02 18:49:53 |
0 comments
![[Valid RSS]](/images/valid-rss-rogers.png "Validate my RSS feed")