By Team Mangalorean - Bhatkal

Bhatkal November 9, 2009: A spontaneous movement of protest against duality of rules has come up for public consumption in Bhatkal. This highway town which has reduced the Hindus to minority is now poised for a religious show down. The town is now under thick blanket of police security especially to the educational institutions. The police feel that the uniform dress code in the college could create a communal situation.

The problem appears to have stemmed from the fact that the minority Hindus have been given a raw deal in the government college in Bhatkal. While all others have been made to wear the uniforms compulsorily the Minority Muslim students were allowed to wear their religious dresses in the college campus as well as in the class rooms. As a mark of protest of this duality of rules the Hindu minority students have taken up a novel protest of appearing in the college in their religious colours- Saffron. Men students sported Saffron dhotis and shawls while their lady counterparts wore anything that they could lay their hands on that was coloured in Saffron.  The Shawls and Dhotis of men students had the verses from Bhagavadgita.

Students told Mangaloran.com that "They were pained at the second hand citizen treatment given by the college, we are financially poor we have got stitched multiple pairs of uniforms as per the rules of the college and were wearing them regularly, but the Muslim women were allowed to wear any dress they wanted including the Burkahs and half scarves which was not a part of the uniform of the college. If the religious symbolism is so important in educational institutions why should it be different to Hindu minorities?,” they queried.

One of the students even got down into in Kacche panche in Saffron (the kind of dress the Purohits and Archaks use). He also vociferously argued that, why should there be duality in rules? My parents also pay their taxes and the fees the college charges without fail. Why should only Hindu minorities abide by the rules of the college and why not the majority Muslim community? This was nothing but Tyranny of Majority, he charged.

The Bhatkal town has over 27,000 Muslim populations while Hindus are less than 15,000 people according to the 2001 census, the voter list of Bhatkal urban area also sustains the population at that figure. J.D. Nayak MLA of Bhatkal when asked about this discrimination by the Mangalorean.com only said there is a dress code already implemented in the college by the college committee but few Muslim girls were wearing their religious dresses in the college.  The college management committee of which I am the chairman has met recently to discuss the matter and have asked the students to maintain status quo in the issue. But in the meanwhile some Hindu students have taken the rules into their hands and have violated the uniform dress code which was against the committee recommendation of maintaining the status quo.

The students union in the college does not agree with the MLA, they said he had always been siding with the Majority Muslim community and we do not have trust in him, we want equality of rules We have protested against the discriminatory attitude of the college management. We have insisted that a uniform dress code had to be implemented in the college, ours was the first degree college where the students had demanded uniform, but the college had not done anything about it"

The college is situated in the heart of the town, we do not know who is sitting in the class particularly when they are wearing a Burkha (religious overalls) this could be a security threat also the union leaders argue.

However, the police are not taking any chances since it was an emotive issue that can spark a communal situation in the town. The town is known for its communally sensitive nature. The college and its surrounding areas have been given a thick blanket of security. The Superintendent of Police Mr. Raman Gupta said this was a social issue and we have to maintain law and order in the city that was why we have posted few policemen in the area.

However the Hindu fringe groups have distanced themselves from the issue. This was a spontaneous reaction by the student groups say the Bajrang Dal, Sri Rama Sene and Hindu Jagarana vedike activists. Mr. M.N. Nayak of Akhila Bharata Vidyarthi Parishat told Mangalorean.com that we are the last people to take religious issues into the college campus, the students themselves have taken it up as a cause for the Hindu minorities. 

Prof. I.R. Khan the principal of the college however was hopeful that the impasse will be over in two days, He did not comment on the issue but chose to express hope that everything will fall into place soon.