By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
New Delhi: Ten students of Jamia Millia Islamia have alleged that they were thrown out of National Cadet Corps camp for sporting a beard on Saturday, December 23.
According to the students, they were told by the camp incharge that they have to shave their beards or leave the camp.When students didn’t toe to the line, they were served with the order to leave citing indiscipline as the reason “Five days before the start of camp we were asked by our NCC incharge, Rajneesh sir in Jamia to write a letter seeking permission to join the camp with beards which we did. A day before the camp we were again asked to write a letter, which we again did but despite all we were evicted,” Anwar Shabab who is a NCC cadet since last two years tolf TwoCircles.net.
He says that he has never faced any discrimination earlier on the basis of sporting beard and that it is nowhere written in NCC rules that Muslim men with beard cant join the camps.
“We were forced out of the camp and had to spend all night in the cold. Next morning, we came back to the campus and protested and were joined by the other students,” he added.
According to a DNA report, the 10-day training camp was started on December 19 in Rohini. Eleven out of 35 students who joined training had beards. They were asked to shave off their beards which they refused as it is interference in their religious belief. The NCC officials said that only Sikh cadets are allowed to grow their beards in the camp. A senior official rejected allegations of discrimination and said that it is the code of conduct of NCC. He further said that nobody asked the cadets to leave the camp.
The Jamia students along with evicted NCC cadets held a strong protest inside the campus on Monday, December 25 and later a delegation of students met the Vice Chancellor, Talat Ahmed who assured students of necessary action.
“The VC has assured us that he will order an inquiry and if officials are found guilty, necessary action will be taken,”and Jamia student president of Muslim Student Federation Ateeb Maaz told TwoCircles.net.
The students have called off the protest after VC assurances.