Amid the ongoing hijab row in colleges in Karnataka, a 17-year-old Amritdhari (baptised) Sikh girl was asked by the college authorities to remove her turban after Muslim students protested.
According to reports, the authorities of Mount Carmel college in Bengaluru asked a 17-year-old Amritdhari (baptised) Sikh girl to remove her turban and follow the uniform dress code as per the February 10 interim order of the Karnataka High Court. The High Court had asked the students not to wear any religious dresses, including saffron shawls and hijab inside classrooms.
The Sikh student, who is also the president of the students’ association in Mount Carmel PU College, was politely asked to remove her turban for the first time on February 16, to which she refused. Later, the college spoke to her parents, stating they understood the importance of the turban for a Sikh but were bound by the high court order.
The girl’s family said that the college never discriminated against the Sikh girl and has always been very considerate and polite.
The college authorities have said that they have no issues with the girl wearing the turban so far. They added that when the college reopened on February 16, they informed all students about the high court order.
The Deputy Director of Pre-university education (north) said that he found a group of Muslim girls who demanded that no girls should be allowed to wear their religious symbols, and therefore, the Sikh girl also should not be allowed to wear the turban.
As Muslim girls demanded that the Sikh girl not be allowed to wear the turban, the college authorities spoke to the girl’s father and later mailed him asking them to abide by it.
The father responded to the mail, saying that the turban is an integral part of their life.
“We did not want to interfere, but the other girls have been insisting on uniformity, and hence we sent the mail,” a Mount Carmel PU College spokesperson said, adding that they never sent the girl out or are forcing anybody, but the college is just telling them that they need uniformity in the four walls of the classrooms as per the HC order.
“In our letter to the father, we have specifically mentioned that we believe in an inclusive society and respect all religious practices. According to the vision and mission of the college, we follow inter-religious harmony and have an active inter-religious association,” the Times of India quoted the college as saying.
Responding to the latest controversy, G Sriram, the Deputy Director of pre-university education (north), said that the High Court order does not say anything about turbans.
The girl’s father, Gurcharan Singh, said he told the college authorities his daughter would not remove her turban. He added that he had written to the college saying that the high court order did not mention turban. Gurcharan Singh has approached senior Supreme Court advocate HS Phoolka to seek his opinion on the matter.
