Muslim lecturer resigns after stopped from wearing hijab in India

A Muslim lecturer of a college in Tumakuru district of the Karnataka state of India resigned after being told to remove her hijab by the principal.

The English lecturer Chandini Niaz, in the resignation letter, said her rights were refused by the college.

“I am resigning from my position of English lecturer as you demanded me to remove my hijab which I have been wearing for three years in your college,” the resignation letter read. “The right to religion is a constitutional right that nobody can deny.

“Thank you. I condemn your undemocratic act (sic).”

In her resignation letter, Chandini wrote, “Right to religion is a constitutional right which no one should be denied.”https://t.co/ViA7m9WfVb pic.twitter.com/sW73VQa2n2

— Express Bengaluru (@IEBengaluru) February 18, 2022

The lecturer, in a video statement a day after the incident, blamed the college management for assaulting her self-respect.

The principal of Jain PU College K.T. Manjunath, on the other hand, claimed of taking the action against the “part-time” lecturer under the interim orders issued by the Karnataka High Court but she refused to oblige.

“She (Naz) is a part-time lecturer and used to come to class wearing the hijab,” he was quoted saying in the report. “After the Karnataka High Court’s interim order, we asked her to remove the hijab in the staff room and go to class but she didn’t want to do that and hence resigned.”

“We are a private college. Whatever the management says, we have to follow. We were concerned that if a teacher is allowed to wear hijab and teach then Muslim students may follow suit,”

It is pertinent to mention that the law does not apply to teachers and or educational institutes without a prescribed uniform.