College hijab row: tale of a district divided

In a history of sorts, SDPI, the political wing of PFI, recently won three seats in Udupi urban local body elections. It won Kaup town municipality as well as Vittla and Kotekar town panchayats, making inroads into traditional Congress base of Muslim voters.

In a way, keeping the issue, and the resulting polarisation, alive is also seen to help BJP, which is trying to hold on to its influence in Udupi, having swept the seats in 2018 elections. Party MLA for Udupi, K Raghupathi Bhat, who is also head of the college development council, however, denied making any efforts to drive political gain from the polarisation caused by the protests.

“It (controversy) started after the results of the urban local bodies elections in December. (Now) it is being used to polarise voters,” said Abdul Azeez Udyavar, organising secretary of Udupi District Muslim Okkutta, also district president of the Welfare Party of India. “If hijab was an issue for students, I am sure parents would have brought it to our notice. It could have been solved without much hype.” Udyavar maintained that CFI has “used these students for their benefit”, an accusation Sadiq Jaaratthar, Karnataka unit secretary of CFI, denied.

BJP’s Bhat also said the pro-hijab protests were “politically motivated”. But students involved in the protest denied any political reason behind their demand. Stating that they went to CFI only after the college administration failed to address the issue, a student who has been part of the protests and did not want to be identified, said, “We approached them (CFI) to support the cause since it is our fundamental right (to wear hijab).”

Indicating that the issue may have gone past them now, Abdul Rehman Razvi Kalkatta, secretary, Muslim coordination committee of Udupi district, said, “We wanted to find a solution by holding talks, and not portray the district in a bad light.” He said Muslim leaders want the college to allow women to wear hijab to their classes.

BJP’s Bhat said had the issue come to his, or the college’s notice, “we would have solved it by allowing hijab without making much noise”. But, “it has now gone out of our hands. There is a good amount of Muslim population in Uchila village, in Kaup, Padubidre and Katapadi, and they want to make the best of it.”

CFI’s Jaaratthar, however, alleged that even local administrative authorities and the government have backed this “religious discrimination”.

Pointing out that the Department of Undergraduate Education rules mention that uniforms are not compulsory, he said the department itself is now working against its own guidelines.