Four students from Jammu & Kashmir, who were enrolled in a nursing college in Bengaluru, were left in the lurch after the principal allegedly barred them from attending classes until they shaved their beards. Citing ‘hygiene’ as the reason, the principal, who had joined the college a little less than a month ago, informed the students that their internal marks would be affected if they failed to comply.
The alleged discrimination was faced by students of Adarsh College of Nursing in Mariyappana, Mallathahalli.
Three of the students are in the first year B.Sc. course while the fourth is in his second year. They told The Hindu that the principal summoned them and asked them to shave the beard if they wanted to be marked in their internals.
“For the past week, we are being sent out of class on instructions from the principal for not shaving our beard. The management was fine with our beards when we filled the admission form. All of a sudden, the principal, who joined 20 days ago, asked us to shave. She barred us from entering class. The beards are a part of our faith,” said one student.
Another alleged that on Wednesday he could only attend two lectures. “When the principal got to know that we were in class, she asked the lecturers to send us out,” he claimed. “We tried reasoning with her, but she was adamant, citing discipline and uniformity.”
Principal firm
The principal, Priyadarshini, told The Hindu that she stood by her decision as it was a professional course and that there was a need for students to be ‘disciplined, and maintain hygiene’.
“These people are serving patients. It is our protocol to ensure that nails of our students are short, boys are clean shaven, and do not have piercing. Moreover, it’s an internal issue which was resolved with the college management.”
The four boys checked with other nursing colleges in the city to find out if it was mandatory to be clean shaven. “We were told that there is no such rule,” a student said.
College erred: RGUHS
The nursing college is affiliated with Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). S. Sachidananda, Vice Chancellor of RGUHS, said that the college management had erred as it could not hurt the religious sentiments of its students.
“We will inquire into the matter and issue directions to the college not to impose its views in this matter,” he said.
The students said they discussed the issue with their families in J&K, who have advised them to shave the beard and not get involved in any trouble.
