Kerala college suspends student for sharing seat with girls

Controversy is brewing over the decision of a Kerala college to suspend a boy student for allegedly defying its directive not to share seats with girls in the campus even as protest is mounting over the management rule.

Dinu K, a first year degree student of the autonomous Farook College in Kozhikode, was suspended last month for being part of a group of boys and girls who sat next to each other on a bench in a classroom in their campus, defying the management.

The students were asked to bring their parents and tender written apologies for 'defying disciplinary rules'. Though all the others complied, Dinu refused to do so saying he had not committed any crime, following which he was suspended.

Meanwhile, despite repeated efforts, the college Principal, E P Imbichi Koya, could not be contacted. Dinu alleged that the college management had imposed several gender discriminatory rules on students and the 'ban' against sitting intermixed was the latest in the series.

A girl student, who did not want to be named, said there is a separate space for boys and girls even in the canteen, adding there is lot of pressure on students who protest.

The incident has triggered a row after the social media took up the issue and social and political activists came up against the action of the Muslim-run college management.

A number of people, led by former Naxalite K Ajitha and human rights activist V P Zuhra staged a demonstration against this gender segregation at Mananchira ground in the heart of Kozhikode city the other day.

The participants held placards that screamed "stand up against fascist propaganda" and conducted model classes at the open space to mark their protest.

Zuhra, founder of NISA which fights for the rights of Muslim women, said the suspension of the student is an example of "religious invasion" into the fundamental freedom of people.

She also said such kinds of gender segregation is largely seen in educational institutions run by religious communities.

"Schools and collges should not be allowed to be run on the basis of religion and community. In such institutions, the respective religion or community will impose their belief on students. The Farook College incident was an example for this," Zuhra told PTI.

She said all educational institutions should give space for girls and boys to mingle with each other and accept each other as their fellow social beings.

A group of activists, artists and writers have also sent a petition to the state government and the university to withdraw the student's suspension and put an end to such kind of gender discrimination on the college campuses.

Farook College, a leading arts and science college under Calicut University, had courted another controvery some time ago for setting up 'boys only' benches on the campus.