The admission forms of all six Muslim girls at Udupi’s Government Pre-University College for Girls, who have been in the forefront of the protests to continue allowing them to wear the hijab within educational institutions, were leaked on Wednesday, allegedly by the college itself.
The students, who have been at the epicenter of these protests, say they have been receiving abusive phone calls ever since a pdf containing their personal information provided solely to the college was leaked over Whatsapp, according to a story broken by the Quint.
“I am not comfortable showing my face anymore. Already everyone knows how I look and where my home is. What if someone targets me?” said Aliya Assadi, one of six girls who have been at the epicenter of the demonstrations.
Hazra Shifa, another one of the girls said, “Even my parents are receiving calls from unknown numbers. I have asked them not to attend calls.”
The Quint was able to acquire a leaked WhatsApp message that contained a pdf document with scanned copies of admission forms from the institution’s ledger, indicating that the breach came from within the university. The girls were identifiable by their names and photographs in the leaked message.
Raghupathi Bhat, the chairman of the College’s Development Committee (CDC) and a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Udupi, has been insisting that Muslim students wearing hijab are not permitted inside classes since December 2021.
Speaking about Raghupathi Bhat, Assadi said “He made our fight for hijab communal in nature, by supporting the saffron scarf protests. He instigated the students to wear saffron shawls. And now he has made, not just the college, but also our homes unsafe,”.
When The Quint contacted the college, they declined to comment on the information that had been leaked.
