Except for some professional courses like nursing, medicine, law or management, colleges do not prescribe uniform for students. In matters of dress laissez faire prevails in campuses. But Karnataka’s Dakshin Kannada district (DK in short) is witnessing this bizarre phenomenon of unauthorised gendarme affiliated to Hindu right forces imposing its own dress code on Muslim students.
DK district has always been a hotbed of communal politics. But advent of BJP to power has given a massive boost to the rightist forces to put into action a plan to harass Muslims and Christians leading to communal polarisation of masses.
For over 15 months, the outfits like Ram Sene, Bajrang Dal and ABVP have been targeting minority students. In the beginning the strategy was to intimidate and assault Muslim students found either travelling or speaking to Hindu students, more so if they belonged to opposite gender. Later Muslim girls wearing burqa and hijab were targeted. And now even those donning headscarves are being asked to remove them while entering the campuses.
In the latest episode, Ayesha Ashmin, a B.Com student in the Sri Venkatramana Swamy College in Panamangalore, 25 kms north of Mangalore, was asked by Principal Seetharam Mayya to remove her headscarf before entering the College. Ashmin, daughter of B. Mohammad, told this scribe over phone that the directive was verbally conveyed to her by the principal.
The trouble began after the students’ union election in the college in which one Bharath, an activist of ABVP was elected as the president of the union. Bharath reportedly told Ayesha ‘to remove her scarf or suffer consequences’. Ayesha and her father pleaded with Bharath, College committee members and the media to help her continue with her studies. Nothing worked and she had to forgo classes for nearly three weeks on Principal’s directive. The principal refused to provide her security. On August 18 the news burst on the national media and Ayesha approached the Deputy Collector Ponnuraj in Mangalore to help her continue her studies while wearing the scarf as the college prospectus did not prescribe any dress code. Meanwhile, even local Congress MLA Ramanath Rai approached vice chancellor of the Mangalore University Dr. Kaveriappa and advised him ‘to resolve the issue’. Rai, former minister in the state, told this scribe that ‘he favours right of free will in matters of dress to prevail in campuses as uniforms are not prescribed in colleges and universities’. However, as yet Ayesha’s tragedy continues and the 19-year old girl is being denied permission to resume studies at the college. Apparently, the college administration is under pressure from the ABVP not to allow her back into the college with headscarf. Ayesha told the media that she would like to follow her religious beliefs and continue her studies as well without any let-up.
With highlighting of the unofficial ban on burqa and headscarf in the State media, several students organization staged a massive protest opposite the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mangalore on August 20. The protestors numbered over 2,000. Official response was however quick. Sensing that the rightist forces were up to mischief during Ramadan through such provocations, the Police, Deputy Commissioner and the Municipal administration enforced section 144 in the city and asked the shops to close down at 8 pm. It has become almost routine for the Hindutva bodies to lit the communal fuse before Ramadan and create situation where minorities could be targets of violence.
The Rightist forces had earlier imposed a ‘burqa ban’ on students in Government College, Uppinagady, 50 kms north of Mangalore three months ago. Surprisingly, it was a Government college and the government was found wanting in restraining the communal bodies from implementing their scheme of things.
In the state capital Bangalore, Minister for Higher Education Arvind Limbavalli dismissed the ‘burqa ban’ issue as a minor one and refused to be drawn into discussion. Chief Minister B.S. Yedyurappa has made it a rule for himself to maintain stoic silence on such issues that pertain to core ideology of the Sangh Parivar, though he is known to be a man who disapproves of any activities that harass minorities or any other section of people.
Of late the Government has initiated action against Ram Sene which had been carrying on a venomous propaganda against the minorities in several districts of the State. Sene President Pramode Muthalik was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. On one occasion, Home Minister Dr. V. S. Acharya even agreed that Ram Sene activities were a headache even for the BJP government in the State. But what remains inexplicable is that why the State government withdrew certain cases against the Ram Sene activities last year and why as coalition partner in the Kumaraswamy Government during 2006-07, it pressured the government to do the same.
It appears that while a dominant majority of the ministers in the BJP Government in Karnataka would not like the government to identify itself with any communal outfits, the fact that the BJP needs the good offices of the Hindutva foot soldiers for elections, keeps it from taking any action that would incur their displeasure and cause erosion of vote banks.
DK district has been home to the communal outfits for long. Their activities remained unchecked till the minorities did not develop any adequate response through administrative action or media. But during the last one decade, the minorities have begun to take to modern education in a big way as the only effective tool to sensitise the masses. Even a section of the media in the district has become sympathetic to their cause. They perceive a threat to their nefarious motives in the twin trends. Unofficial burqa bans and anti-hijab drives are therefore attempts to restrain the minority students from taking to modern education. One wonders if they would be equally enthusiastic in opposing the wearing of turbans by Sikh students, if at all headscarf is found to be so very troublesome to their brand of secular ethos.