Kashmiri Students Allege Religious Discrimination at Bengaluru Nursing College
Kashmiri Students Allege Religious Discrimination at Bengaluru Nursing College
—————————
The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) has appealed to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for urgent intervention following allegations of religious discrimination at a nursing college in Bengaluru, MSN reported. The association claims that female Kashmiri students at Sri Soubhagya Lalitha College of Nursing were barred from classes and threatened with expulsion for wearing the hijab or burqa.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister, the JKSA stated that these students have been “systematically targeted, humiliated, and denied their fundamental right to education solely because they choose to wear the burkha or abaya.” The college is affiliated with the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).
The JKSA emphasized that no existing legal or university policy prohibits the wearing of hijab or burqa in classrooms, labeling the college’s actions as illegal and discriminatory. Khuehami noted that the college administration reportedly justified their stance by citing objections from other students and claiming that “hijab and pardah are not allowed for medical students anywhere in the country.”
The Association condemned these remarks as “absurd, Islamophobic stereotypes” and deemed the incident a “dangerous violation” of constitutional rights, specifically citing Articles 25 (freedom of conscience), 15 (prohibition of discrimination), and 21A (right to education) of the Indian Constitution.
