03 January,2009 08:44 AM IST | | Alisha Coelho
And then, the Babasaheb Gawde Institute of Technology at Mumbai Central revokes the ban after irate students and parents protest the decision
We've heard of colleges imposing dress codes that proscribe revealing outfits like sleeveless tops, tight T-shirts and short skirts. But, in a decision that was not taken too kindly, the Babasaheb Gawde Institute of Technology at Mumbai Central imposed a ban on students wearing kurtas, pyjamas and burqas inside the institute.
The management of the institute posted a notice to the effect on Monday and stated that the ban was being enforced with immediate effect. Students further claimed that they were being disallowed from attending lectures and the conflict came to a head yesterday morning when a group of irate parents and students protested outside the college gates.
The management was forced to revoke the ban.
"They gave us no reason for the ban. This is our culture, our tradition. We are being forced to stop wearing clothes that signify our identity. We would have understood had the clothes been vulgar, revealing or offensive.
But what's the problem with kurta pyjamas?" asked an irate student.
"We should be allowed to wear what we are comfortable in," said another female student.
R P Gawde, chairman of the governing body for the institute, said that the move was introduced to foster a "secular feel in the classroom".
He added that security was another factor. "During a parent-teacher meeting last year, in two separate incidents, male students brought female friends wearing burqas to pose as their parents. We don't want to risk offending a student in a burqa by asking her to prove her identity," explained Gawde.
He further stated that the ban had been in the code of conduct since the inception of the institute a decade ago. "I am disappointed that our efforts to give the college a more secular feel did not succeed. We will now introduce a uniform dress code for students from the new academic year," said Gawde.
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' The Maniben M P Shah Girl's college in Matunga asked students in September 2008 to remove their veils before entering the campus. This was done after the college discovered that boys wearing veils had entered the campus. ' In 2007, 400 students from K J Somaiya Institute of Engineering and Information Technology in Sion were not allowed to write their term papers when they showed up wearing T-shirts. Dr Raj Kishore Prasad, principal of the college, said, "Girls wear tight T-shirts and boys get busy chasing them and amid all this, studies go for a toss." ' In 2002, the principal of Kumari Kasturi Vidyalaya and Junior College in Bhandup was accused of hitting a female student with a dandiya stick because she wore jeans. The principal denied the allegation, but confirmed that girls could only wear salwar kameezes. |
