Row over students having beard resolved amicably in govt college in Karnataka, says authorities
Hassan (PTI): A row over students from Jammu and Kashmir studying in a government nursing college in Karnataka having long beard has been sorted out amicably, an official of the institute said on Sunday.
The issue came to light when the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association wrote to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the "significant challenges" faced by the students at the college at Holenarasipura in Hassan district.
The issue was amicably solved after the students agreed to comply with the directions of the college management, said Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences director Dr Rajanna.
There are about 40 Kashmiri students in the college who alleged that they were facing "significant challenges". They communicated their concerns to the Srinagar-based Jammu and Kashmir Students Association.
"It has come to our notice that over two dozen Kashmiri students at the college are facing significant challenges due to restrictive policies concerning their personal appearance," the association said.
The college administration has reportedly been compelling the Kashmiri students to either trim their beards to a ‘01’ trimmer length or be clean-shaven before they could be allowed to participate in college activities or enter the premises, particularly for clinical duties, the association wrote to the CM.
Students who have beards are being marked absent during clinical duties, impacting their academic records and attendance, it alleged.
"The right to personal appearance, including the choice to grow a beard, is fundamental aspect of an individual's freedom and identity," the association said.
"No student should be subjected to such discrimination or forced to compromise their beliefs and practices to access education. Such actions not only infringe upon the rights of these students but also create an atmosphere of fear and exclusion, which is detrimental to the spirit of education and democracy," it added.
However, Dr Rajanna rejected the association's charges.
"These students have mistaken the instruction given about the untidy dress and keeping a long beard. During the clinical process they were instructed to keep their dress neat and trim their beards," he told PTI.
Rajanna said that when he came to know about the issue, he had discussed with the students, who later agreed to come with a neat dress, to be punctual and to keep the beard trimmed.
"The issue is now resolved. Right now there are 40 students. The students are happy in their hostels. The faculties and principal have visited their rooms and counseled the students," he explained.
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Bypoll: Wayanad witnesses brisk polling
Wayanad/Thrissur(Kerala) (PTI): During the first hour of voting, Wayanad Lok Sabha and the Chelakkara assembly seats in Kerala witnessed a turnout of 6.96 and 7.2 per cent, respectively on Wednesday.
People started arriving early in the morning at the 1,354 polling booths in the hill constituency of Wayanad where there are over 14 lakh registered voters, according to the Election Commission figures.
Some arrived early, while others wanted to get it over with quickly before more people started reaching the polling stations, they told reporters.
It is a holiday in Wayanad LS and Chelakkara assembly constituencies on account of the bypolls.
The Wayanad constituency comprises seven assembly segments of Mananthavady (ST), Sulthan Bathery (ST), and Kalpetta in Wayanad district; Thiruvambady in Kozhikode district; and Eranad, Nilambur, and Wandoor in Malappuram district.
A bypoll was necessitated in the hill constituency after Rahul Gandhi, who won the Wayanad LS seat in the general elections held earlier this year, vacated it after he also won from the Rae Bareli constituency.
There are 16 candidates in the fray for the seat with Congress-led UDF's candidate and Rahul's sister Priyanka, who is making her electoral debut, CPI(M)-led LDF's Sathyan Mokeri and BJP-led NDA's Navya Haridas being the top contenders.
Polling in Wayanad commenced amidst tight security arrangements which included deployment of over 2,500 security personnel and live monitoring of the by-election process by an extensive webcasting system.
Voting for the Chelakkara assembly seat in Thrissur district of the state also saw people turning up early at the 177 polling stations in the constituency.
There are six candidates in the fray for the assembly seat, where a bypoll was necessitated after LDF's K Radhakrishnan -- who won from there in 2021 -- was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Alathur constituency by defeating UDF's Ramya Haridas who had won from there in 2019.
Haridas is now contesting from the Chelakkara assembly seat and is pitted against LDF's U R Pradeep and NDA's K Balakrishnan.
There were close to two lakh voters in the constituency during the 2021 assembly election in the state.
Voting began in Wayanad and Chelakkara after a mock poll was carried out by casting votes in favour of all candidates, including NOTA, whose names are there on an EVM.
