Muslim students in Indian universities denounced the decision of their colleges to expel veiled women, considering it a humiliating decision that will force them to choose between religion and education.
A 21-year-old Muslim student, who lives in the Udupi neighborhood in the southern state of Karnataka, says: “Protests against the ban on headscarves started, the humiliation I felt when college officials ordered me to leave the classroom because I was veiled.”
The Indian student added in statements to Reuters: “My faith is being questioned and insulted by a place I considered an educational edifice.”
“Having studied for five years at (Mahatma Gandhi Memorial) College in Udupi, it’s like asking you to choose between your religion or your education, it’s not right,” she said.
She added that a number of Muslim women who opposed the ban had received threatening calls and were afraid to leave the house.
College officials say female students are allowed to wear a headscarf on campus but must remove them in the classroom.
Udupi is one of three districts in the religiously sensitive coastal region of Karnataka, a stronghold of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.
