The Loyola College in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, has prohibited 2 students to enter the classroom, after they were seen wearing a burqa. The college said this as there is a uniform rule in the college, where all students are to adorn the same uniform, without any kind of difference between any of them. As the 2 girls wore their hijab along with their uniform, they were prohibited from entering their classrooms.
On Thursday (February 18) morning, two girls – Pathan Sadikunnissa and Shaik Reshma who are B.Sc. Second-year students at Andhra Loyola College entered the premises wearing Burqa.
One of the girls, Sadikunnissa, claimed that they were barred from entering the college by the Principal. She claimed, “We have been wearing hijabs from the beginning and our ID cards were also photographed with traditional hijab wear. Now the correspondent says that we can’t come to college wearing it.”
The girls had entered the campus by wearing burqa, and not just the Hijab. Reacting to their claims, Loyola College Principal, Father GAP Kishore said, “This morning, while I was on rounds in the college, I found three girls entering college late. Two among them were in Muslim attire. I asked them to go to the girls’ waiting room and change before going to the classroom. However, they refused and went away.”
Later, the parents and relatives of the two girls, who came there after coming to know of the issue, got involved in a deep argument with the college management. They asked why the management, which has allowed their children to wear a hijab/burqa from their 1st year, is suddenly prohibiting them from doing so, now. The Police officers who reached there on receiving the information, conducted an enquiry with the college administration.
#HijabRow spreads to #AndhraPradesh .
Students of Loyola College in #Vijayawada said they were denied entry.
Students said they had ID cards in #Burqa and never faced issues since 1st year.
Parents, community elders in talks with college principal & police.#Hijab pic.twitter.com/RDspno28R9— P Pavan (@PavanJourno) February 17, 2022
The administration made it clear to the Police that the two students will not be allowed inside until they follow the uniform rules. The police officers then tried to explain the same to the students and their parents, but failed. Subsequently the children went home, without attending college for the day. The Andhra Pradesh police and education ministry are very particular in ensuring that the protest against for Hijab rights, or against Hijab should not spread across the state.
The Principal of the Loyola college had initially said that no Muslim dress, Hijab or Burqa, is allowed in the college, but later succumbed to pressure as the management allowed the two Burqa-clad girls to attend classes.
(With inputs from Polimer News)
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