Three students of a pre-university college in Chikkamagaluru district were denied entry after college officials objected to the religious attire they were wearing for the Sabarimala pilgrimage. The officials later backtracked after local BJP leaders intervened, saying educational institutions should not interfere in religious matters.
The three male students of MES College were stopped from entering the premises on November 30. MES PU College is run by the Malnad Educational Society and has a prescribed uniform.
A Kannada news channel quoted a student, Vishwas, who said they were instructed not to enter the college while wearing the maala (religious necklace). “The three of us were told we would only be allowed inside if we took off the maala. They told us to leave and did not give us attendance,” Vishwas told Public Impact, a local news channel.
Those who undertake the Sabarimala pilgrimage to the Ayyappa temple in Pathanamthitta, Kerala, wear a religious necklace, a black lungi, and go barefoot for 41 or 48 days before the journey.
Hiremagaluru Puttaswamy, the BJP’s district spokesperson, told TNM that the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat, the student wing of the RSS, and other student organisations had approached local Hindu outfits, who then raised the matter with the local BJP unit. “We approached the college. What they’re doing is not right; these colleges should not interfere in religious matters,” Puttaswamy said.
Puttaswamy’s remarks assume significance because BJP leaders had made the opposite argument when the ABVP orchestrated a campaign against hijab-wearing Muslim students at a government college in Udupi. Eight students at the Women’s Government PU College were barred from attending classes in December 2021 after the principal said they could not wear the hijab in the classroom.
Even after the girls requested permission to wear the hijab in the colours of the college uniform, ABVP members in Dakshina Kannada and Chikkamagaluru districts launched a campaign wearing saffron shawls against them.
TNM reached out to DL Vijayakumar, who said he was a member of the trust that owns the college and not directly involved in its management. He declined to comment further.
