In a Talibani diktat of sorts, a girls’ college in Uttar Pradesh’s industrial city of Kanpur has made scarf and veil compulsory for girl students and also banned cellphones.
According to reports, the Muslim Jubilee Girls Inter College management has decided to strictly enforce the new rules with immediate effect and has warned that those found violating the directive would be expelled.
The college administration justified its decision saying that it would curb incidents of eve-teasing and would promote Islamic culture among students.
“What’s wrong in putting on scarf.....a majority of the students put on the veils voluntarily....no harm will come to them if they put on the scarf,” said Abdul Haseeb, secretary of the society that runs the college. “In the Islamic country, the girls always put on scarf...it reflects the Islamic culture.”
He also said that there was no need for the female students to bring cellphones in the college. “If they want to speak to someone in their family, they may contact the college principal,” he said.
Meeta Jamal, college principal, also justified the decision and said that it was for their (girls’) own safety.
Many girls, however, opposed the decision. “Cellphones are for our own safety...we can keep in touch with our family in times of emergency,” they said. They felt that the scarf should not be made compulsory.
Recently, a college in Bulandshahar district had directed its students to shun wearing jeans and capris on the campus in an attempt to check growing incidents of eve-teasing.
In another diktat issued recently, ‘all women panchayat’ in the Muzaffarnagar district had decided to ban jeans voluntarily and pledged not to grow nails.
The panchayat, attended by a large number of college students, passed the decision unanimously.
Another prestigious college in Varanasi had directed the girl students not to wear ‘provocative dresses’ as they ‘vitiate’ atmosphere on the campus.
The co-educational institute had even banned the use of cellphones by the students.
