Classes boycotted in Calicut university as boy student allowed to keep beard

September 7, 2016 | Published by : Avinash Nandakumar

KOZHIKODE,Sept7 Students at Calicut University’s centre for physical education here boycotted classes on Tuesday in protest against its decision to allow a Muslim student to keep his beard.

It was on a complaint from first-year integrated BPEd student Mohammed Hilal who was banned from attending classes from August 1 for sporting a beard that university vice-chancellor K Mo hammed Basheer allowed him to attend classes till the final disposal of the complaint.

Hilal had said in his complaint that the prospectus had not mentioned such a rule.
The vice-chancellor’s action, meanwhile, followed a recommendation from the board for adjudication of student grievances that looked into the complaint.

On Tuesday , students of the department boycotted classes while around 150 students took out a march, demanding uniform rules for all students.Basheer said the grievances board had been asked to look into the issues raised by the protesting students as well.

Majority of the students are Muslims, vice chancellor is a Muslim.

Physical education department coordinator Surendran P said male students were required to shave their beards at the centre. “Almost all physical education institutions have been following this tradition.

It is also mandatory to remove beard while participating in body contact events like boxing, wrestling and so on,” he said, adding that Hilal had also agreed to follow the code during admission.

Department authorities ruled out any religious angle, saying majority students of the department were Muslims.

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