By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
In an extremely controversial step, Rabeeha Abdurehim, a student from Kerala, was sent out of the hall in which President Ramnath Kovind gave away certificates and medals at the convocation ceremony at the Pondicherry University. In protest, Rabeeha refused to receive the gold medal while accepting the certificate. She also expressed her solidarity with the students all over the country facing police brutality over their protests against the CAA and NRC.
Rabeeha was the topper in the Department of Mass Communication. An active student and very vocal in her stands, she was to receive a gold medal at the 27th annual convocation event, in which President Ramnath Kovind was the chief guest. She was sitting in the hall for convocation when the Superintendent of Police called her out and asked her to wait there. Meanwhile, the President came, the function began and he gave away the certificates and gold medals for some students before leaving the place. Rabeeha was called back in only after the President left. And when it was her turn to receive the certificate and medal from the university official, she refused to accept the medal and accepted only the certificate explaining her stand.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Rabeeha said that she was not given any explanation by the University for this act. However, there have been reports that she was kept out fearing she would protest against the CAA and NRC in the presence of the President. Rabeeha also refuted the reports that she was kept out for being Hijabi, adding that she was not the only hijabi there. She has posted a message on her Facebook page explaining her take on the incident.
The students’ council at the university lauded the protest of Rabeeha along with the students who boycotted the event, ‘as a gesture of solidarity to the struggles around the country against CAA-NRC’. It also condemned ‘the cowardly act’ of the university authorities who had handpicked a few students only to receive the medals directly from the President. The Council had, on December 21, issued a statement urging the students to be present at the convocation ceremony and to refuse the certificates being given away by the President.