Dress code row: ‘Divided’ classrooms worry students, teachers

The controversy has turned classmates into ‘opponents’

Prateek Dongre, a I PUC student in Belagavi, sees the raging controversy in Karnataka over dress code as something that will affect not only his academics, with examination close at hand, but also have a long-term impact on the atmosphere in classrooms.

“It has not only divided students into Hindus and Muslims and boys and girls, but also into those who support hijab and saffron shawls, and those who do not. This way, the classrooms have been divided in multiple ways. That too just before exams,” he said. He pointed out that such incidents are happening largely in government colleges, where students from poorer sections like him study.

Many students and teachers are horrified by how those who studied together for many years in a classroom have suddenly become “opponents” for the last one week. A section of students, as well as the teaching community in educational institutions in Mysuru with whom The Hindu spoke, were surprised by the sudden eruption of the hijab issue.