College Refuses To Take Back Bearded Student

A   city college refusal to allow a Muslim student to attend class if he continues to sport a beard is threatening to snowball into a controversy with both the college authorities and the Muslim community upping the ante.

Angry members from the Muslim community have decided to hold parleys with the management of St Germain PU College in Coles Park area in Fraser Town on Friday. If the talks fail, their next step would be a demonstration against the college authorities.

The controversy has been brewing for a while now. However, the situation got further heated up after 18-year-old M Zeeshan Ali (a second PU student) was told by the college authorities that he could not attend classes sporting a beard. A resident of 14th A Cross near Kausar Masjid in Govindapur and the eldest of the three sons of carpenter Iqbal Ahmed, Ali had started growing a beard for the last one year as part of Sunnat (Mohammed’s way of life viewed as a model for Muslims).

Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Zeeshan said: “The actual problem started last year itself. I have completed my first year PUC in commerce from this particular college and I was asked to remove my beard since then. But I had refused that time too and, somehow, the one year was completed.”

When college reopened this year, the teen knew the going would not be easy for him. “As a precautionary measure I along with my father went and met principal Kanchana on Monday –the day college reopened after holidays. My father requested the principal to allow me to retain my beard, but she asked me to trim it and return. Despite repeated requests she didn’t allow me and told me to come on Wednesday. She assured she would consult college head Fr Jayanathan,” says Zeeshan.

He said, “As the principal had assured I didn’t go to college on Tuesday. I went alone on Wednesday and met her. Once again I requested her to allow me to attend the classes but she told me to come to college clean-shaven or take a transfer certificate.”Zeeshan says on Thursday, he went back to college with a man called Vinod. “Vinod and I both met vice-principal Maria and requested her to allow me to attend classes. But she too refused,” he says, adding he tried to explain that the Sikh community keeps their turbans as it is their custom and on the same ground Muslims too should be allowed to sport a beard. The vice-principal refused to relent, stating that it will hamper its secular credentials.

Up in arms

Tipu Sultan United Front’s president Sardar Qureshi says, “Zeeshan has been studying in the college for the past year with a beard and now suddenly the management is asking him to shave it off. We, along with some community leaders, will meet the principal on Friday and ask her to allow Zeeshan to attend class. We won’t tolerate the discriminatory attitude of the college.” Corporator A R Zakir said: “I will speak to the authorities concerned and sort out the issue.”

The Bald facts

Rev Msgr S Jayanathan, who heads the college management, says, “This is a rule of the Archdiocesan Board of Education and it is followed in all the institutions. The rule is not for any one particular community. This has been done keeping in mind the interests of students and it has already been 8communicated to all students. We have justified the rule and it is being followed since 2005. We are not discriminating against any particular community and every student has to follow the rule.”