CUK appoints inquiry panel against professor to probe alleged forced hijab forced during trip

KALABURAGI: The Central University of Karnataka (CUK) in Kalaburagi has launched an investigation into allegations that Assistant Professor Abdul Majid forced second-year BA students to wear hijabs during an academic field trip to a mosque.

The university’s Registrar, R R Biradar, confirmed receiving a complaint from A Santosh, general secretary of the Legal Rights Protection Forum, Hyderabad, on July 26, 2025.

Got reports that Asst Prof Mr Abdul Majid, History & Archaeology – Central University of Karnataka (@CuKarnataka) took UG students to Islamic religious sites as a ‘field trip’ and forced girl students to wear Hijab.

We’ve written to the Vice-Chancellor seeking strict action. pic.twitter.com/oXnqEcW5cX

— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) July 26, 2025

Biradar said, “On July 26, 2025, I received a complaint from A Santosh, general secretary, Legal Rights Protection Forum, Hyderabad, against Abdul Majid, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Archaeology, Central University of Karnataka. He said that students in their second year of BA were forced to wear a hijab to enter the mosque during an academic field trip”.

#WATCH | Kalaburagi | Karnataka Central University Registrar RR Biradar said, “On 26 July 2025, I received a complaint from A Santosh, General Secretary, Legal Rights Protection Forum, Hyderabad, against Abdul Majid, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Archaeology,… pic.twitter.com/Un1uR41Acg

— ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2025

Biradar added that the university will appoint an inquiry committee in the case, and action will be taken if the assistant professor is found guilty. “According to university rules, we will appoint an inquiry committee. If the committee finds the professor guilty, then we will take action”, the university registrar said.

Wearing the hijab at educational institutions has been a boiling issue in Karnataka since 2022. On July 15, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, seeking his immediate intervention in an incident of alleged religious discrimination faced by Kashmiri female students at a nursing college in Bengaluru.

The students, who wear the hijab or burqa in accordance with their religious beliefs, had reportedly been barred from attending classes and threatened with expulsion by the management of Sri Soubhagya Lalitha College of Nursing, affiliated with the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).

In its letter, the Association expressed deep anguish over the harassment and humiliation allegedly inflicted upon the students, who were denied entry into classrooms and practical sessions for the past several days.

“These Kashmiri female students have been systematically targeted, humiliated, and denied their fundamental right to education solely because they choose to wear the burkha or abaya, an expression of modesty, dignity, and identity rooted deeply in their religious and personal beliefs”, the letter stated. (ANI)