Amidst the Hijab row that has gripped the state over the last two months, a lecturer at Jain PU College in Tumkuru has resigned reportedly after she was asked to remove her Hijab while entering the college.
Chandini had been working as a guest lecturer in a private institution for the past 3 years. However, in the background of the recent Hijab controversy making headlines in the media, the principal of the college notified her to remove the head covering before taking classes, it is learned.
The lecturer in the college’s department of English, Chandini said that she had decided to resign from her position as the guest lecturer at the Jain PU College, to safeguard her self-respect.
Speaking to the reporters, she said, “I have taught in this college for the last three years wearing hijab. This new decision has come as a blow to my self-respect. That’s why I have decided to resign,” she said.
In the strongly-worded resignation letter, the lecturer has called the college’s act ‘undemocratic’ and condemned the institution for asking her to remove her Hijab.
The Hijab protests started in Udupi towards the end of December 2021, when six students were restricted from attending class wearing the headscarf. Following media coverage of the incident, as the protests spread to several colleges, the ABVP backed by VHP and Bajrang Dal in the district accelerated counter saffron shawl protests in opposition to the Hijab.
Amid rising tension in the state, the Karnataka government had ordered the closure of high schools and colleges.
While the Karnataka High Court is hearing the petition around the Hijab ban, it had earlier imposed a temporary ban on the wearing of all religious symbols educational institutions, it has stated, “We make it clear that this order is confined to such of the institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code/uniform.”
However, when the schools and colleges reopened in the aftermath of the High Court’s interim order being issued, many institutions have reportedly been visibly pressurizing Muslim students and teachers to remove the hijab.
