Burqa-clad students denied entry into Maharashtra college, protests erupt | India News – Times of India
Girls in the senior college are not prevented from wearing burqa or hijab in classrooms and college premises.
The N G Acharya and D G Marathe College introduced uniforms for junior college students from June 15 as part of the National Education Policythat places classes 11 and 12 in the senior secondary school level.
The college counselled students for over a month and eventually made the uniforms mandatory from August 1.
On Wednesday, girls started protesting outside the gate, other students also joined them. After police and community leaders intervened, the college allowed time till Tuesday for the uniforms. Principal Vidyagauri Lele said the uniform policy is strict and no burqa, hijab, dupatta, caps, tie and stickers will be allowed.
The incident echoed the protests in Karnataka colleges last year after hijab was banned because it was not part of the uniform.
Though classes 11 and 12 come under the school education department, state colleges do not have a uniform policy. In CBSE and CISCE schools, Plus 2 students don uniforms.
Principal Vidyagauri Lele took a strong stand: “To bring uniformity in the classroom attire for junior college students, the administration decided to introduce uniforms from this academic year. The suggestion came from our teachers, was approved by the governing council and was informed to the parents in May.”
On Wednesday, as students started arriving from 12.30pm, those in burqa were told to remove it to enter. They began protesting and demanded that they be allowed to go to the washroom, located on the ground floor, to take off their burqa. The matter snowballed as videos of the protest went viral. Police were deployed outside the college near Chembur Gymkhana. After intervention, the students were allowed to attend classes by 3pm.
