'You did it forgetting India’s and Kerala’s cultural values that boys and girls don't sit together in classrooms'.
This is what Kozhikode Farooq college's management told its BA Sociology student Dinu V as the reason behind his suspension from the college.
But this has not convinced the Kerala High Court that has now asked the college to take back the student. Justice Chidambaresh has stayed the suspension order for a month and asked the college to take back Dinu.
Nine students including Dinu were suspended few days ago for sitting with classmates of the opposite sex in the same bench.
Eight of those students were later allowed to attend regular classes after they wrote an apology letter following a meeting between the parents and college authorities.
Dinu V who chose not to write a written apology letter unlike his fellow classmates, got an explanatory note from the college.
Forgetting India’s and Kerala’s cultural values that do not allow boys and girls to sit together in classrooms, you gave way to a new controversy. We believe that you deliberately chose our college to create the controversy. The management’s investigation has proven that you have direct links with various organizations, and it is with the backing of these organizations that you decided to create a controversy. We have also seen that this was a devious attempt to shatter the peaceful atmosphere in the college.
The college further alleges that the students had the backing of certain political parties, which was evident from the support they received on public forums and social media.
In the explanatory notice, the college management makes 13 points and says that, in the last 67 years they have followed all rules laid by the state and central governments, UGC and the Calicut University to ensure that the college functions properly and provided ample security to girl students.
Dinu had earlier told The News Minute, “In the benches placed in college corridors, only boys are allowed to sit. In the canteen, there are separate sections for boys and girls and in between that is the staff section to ensure that we don't break the rules."