Four guest lecturers of Bhatkal college wear headscarf

A section of students have been attending classes with saffron shawls since Monday at the Government First Grade College in Bhatkal, Uttara Kannada district.

The move is aimed at protesting against four guest lecturers wearing the hijab (headscarf). This is the latest among a string of cases in which some students have opposed women wearing the burkha or the hijab on the premises of educational institutions.

Some students pursuing B.A and B. Com courses have been wearing the saffron shawl, confirmed Bhageerati Naika, principal in-charge.

Of the four lecturers wearing the headscarf, one had been teaching in the college for eight years, while the other three had been there for five years. The issue had not been raised earlier.

“These students seem to be influenced by the protests in other parts of Karnataka,” Ms. Naika said. The conduct of the students would be reviewed by principal Manjula K.P. A decision on the issue would be taken at a meeting of the college development committee to be called shortly by Mankala Subba Vaidya, Bhatkal MLA.

In one of the first such protests in 2009, students of the college had protested against a girl wearing the burkha. “The issue died down and there were no incidents later,”Ms. Naika said.