A group of Muslim students studying at Chembur’s Acharya College were allegedly denied entry into the institute for wearing burqa. The students alleged they were instructed to remove the burqa to be allowed to entry to the college. Videos of the students standing outside the gate of NG Acharya & DK Marathe College in Chembur made rounds on social media on Wednesday. In the videos, students wearing college uniform can be seen entering the college as the burqa-clad students were denied entry.
One of the students said they were ready to remove the burqa once they enter college and were apprehensive of removing it outside the gate. The security guard at the gate said the college principal instructed him to tell burqa-clad students to remove the garment before entering.The incident bore resemblance to the 2022 Karnataka hijab row, when hijab-clad Muslim students of a junior college in Udupi were denied entry stating that wearing hijab to the institute was in violation of its college uniform policy. In June, a college in Hyderabad denied entry to burqa-clad students and also warned them that they cannot appear for exams until they took it off.Reacting to the incident, state Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali said: "Some Headmaster or Principal might be doing this but our policy is totally secular. People can wear whatever they want but if you wear European dress, it will not be correct... We should wear good clothes..."