A Mangalore college has banned girl students from wearing the burqa in classrooms,laying down the law in its prospectus.The diktat thats likely to trigger a debate thatll criss-cross gender and sectarian lines,is contained in the general regulations for undergraduate courses at the St Aloysius pre-university college.
Students must be neatly dressed in accordance with the rule of approved etiquette.Girls are not expected to wear burqa in the classrooms and in the examination halls.The decision of the principal in this regard is to be accepted, reads the first condition in the general regulations,a copy of which is with TOI.
At many places in UPs Muslim-dominated areas,girl students routinely wear the burqa but most take it off inside classrooms although there is no fiat against wearing the full-body dress.In New Delhis Jamia Milia Islamia,a central university,there is no restriction on students wearing the burqa to classes.
St Aloysius registrar AM Narahari told TOI on Thursday the college doesnt object to girls wearing burqa on campus and even in the corridors.However,he said: Girls are not allowed to enter classrooms and examination halls wearing burqa. Narahari said lecturers found it difficult to teach if girls wear burqa and its mandatory for students to show their face during examinations.
We were allowed to wear the hijab (scarf) in classrooms and exam halls.We go to college wearing burqa,but we remove it and enter the classroom wearing our uniform and hijab.We have to abide by rules of the college, said Kameez Fathima,a student of St Aloysius.
The burqa is a cultural symbol for Muslim women.I dont see any point in educational institutions putting a ban on it.The greatest fear is that if Muslim women are not allowed to wear the hijab or burqa,they will stop going to colleges.Already the literacy rate is low among women and this step will pull it down further.Whether covered full or half,women getting education is more important, said Ruth Manorama,president,National Alliance of Women.
Maybe in the long run,they will shun it on their own,but nobody has a right to impose such a rule.
Janardhan Pai,director,Canara PU College,said their institutions had already made uniforms compulsory for students in PU and degree classes.We mention in the prospectus that a uniform is compulsory for all students.We dont say burqa is banned in our institution,but students can enter classrooms only in uniform, he added.
Our college is very strict and no student is allowed sit in the classroom without wearing a uniform.Hence,the question of banning burqa doesnt arise in our college, said Kedarnath Shenoy,a student of Canara PU college.