MANGALURU: A day after he said that degree colleges do not have any dress code and students are free to wear anything, minister for higher education C N Ashwath Narayan did a volte-face on Wednesday.
In another tweet, he said: “All students must strictly comply with the interim court order on uniform/dress code. In colleges where there are no prescribed uniform guidelines, students should strictly adhere to the norms of College Development Committees (CDC).” A tweet from his office said “Schools-colleges violating dress code even after court’s direction is unpardonable.”
The minister’s U-turn led to severe confusion in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada on Wednesday. In Mangaluru police commissionerate limits, at least four colleges refused entry to a total of 49 hijab-clad students after which they returned home. A statement from police commissioner N Shashikumar said students returned home from Dayanand Pai Degree College, Pompei Degree College, Indira Nagara Degree College and Mahaveera College after they were denied entry. Whereas at Mudipu Degree College and Montepadavu College, a total of 33 students removed the hijab and attended the class.
In all these colleges, police said the principal and faculty discussed the issue with the students and explained to them about the High Court interim order. While some students were convinced and decided to attend the classes, some returned home stating that they will come back only after the High Court verdict, said city police commissioner N Shashi Kumar.
Meanwhile, principals of some degree colleges in Udupi and Mangaluru said that though the minister had said on Tuesday that there is no dress code here, they received instructions from higher authorities stating that the High Court’s interim order applies to even degree colleges and should be implemented.
