Muslim students demand for separate room for Namaz in a church operated college in Ernakulam, Kerala

College administration refuses

Muslim students of Nirmala College protested for space to offer Namaz. (Credit- NavBharat Times)

Ernakulam (Kerala) – Controversy has arisen in the church-operated Nirmala College in Ernakulam after Muslim students demanded a separate room for offering Namaz. The college administration and the church have rejected it. The church said that offering Namaz will not be allowed. Christian organisations have also opposed this demand of Muslim students.

Namaz offered without the permission of the college administration

On 26th July, some Muslim students offered Namaz in the waiting hall of Nirmala College. The staff there gave this information to the college administration. Following this, the administration stopped the students from offering namaz in the college. After this, the Muslim students started a protest in the college and demanded that a separate room be provided in the college for offering daily namaz. Some student organisations have also come forward in support of Muslim students. Muslim students said it was part of their religion and they needed a separate room. (It is evident from this incident that ‘Muslims in colleges or hospitals are first Muslims and then students or doctors’. Muslim women are prohibited from entering their mosques to offer Namaz; however, these same women insist on praying in colleges and other public places in the name of secularism. Is this not going overboard for religious freedom ? – Editor)

The principal of the college, Justin Kannan, categorically denied this. The college administration said that it is a secular institution and no one can be allowed to offer Namaz there. If they want to offer Namaz, they will be given Friday off, they only need to submit a written application.

The Syro-Malabar Church and the ‘Catholic Congress’ strongly objected to this. The Public Affairs Committee of the Syro-Malabar Church has said that attempts to interfere religiously in Christian institutions will be resisted. The head of the church, Bishop Tharayil, said that due to the incidents in Nirmala College, the environment there has become tense. It is an autonomous institution, which maintains its own academic standards.

Two major student organisations in Kerala have also caused the environment in the college to deteriorate by supporting the demand of Muslim students.

The Catholic Congress has said that no room or space for offering Namaz will be provided in colleges and schools operated by the Church.

In this regard, the Catholic Congress appealed to the Maulavis (clerics of Islam) to create space for women in mosques. (Would the Maulavis dare to do this ? – Editor)

Deliberate attempsts to create chaos : BJP

The BJP has opposed the demand of Muslim students to provide a separate room in the college for offering Namaz. State president of BJP K Surendran wrote a post on X, in which he said, ‘Deliberate attempts are being made to create chaos in Hindu and Christian educational institutions in Kerala. Threatening principals for enforcing discipline shows the true face of religious extremism supported by the Left and Congress’. BJP has demanded that the Government should clarify its position on this matter.

Editorial Perspectives

• In secular India, everything is being given to Muslims on the basis of religion, so such demands are being made. To prevent such things, it is necessary to enforce a uniform civil code in the country as soon as possible.

• Have Hindus, Christians etc. been given separate rooms for religious activities in Islamic universities like Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, etc. ?