Farook College in Kozhikode is under the limelight thanks to a college professor asking girls and boys not to sit together on a bench. A report in the Indian Express states that on October 20, a Malayalam professor reprimanded five boys and four girls for sitting together on a bench. They were told to return to college only with their guardians.
A first year BA Sociology student, Dinu K, reportedly told media that the professor had told them boys and girls couldn’t sit together as it was against the rules of the college. When one of the female students told the professor it was gender discrimination, the professor allegedly scolded her and asked students unwilling to follow rules to leave the classroom. The nine students reportedly had to leave the classroom.
The Students Federation of India (SFI) held a protest march on October 27 and this ended with a clash between the SFI activists and students associated with the Muslim Student Movement, Students Islamic Organisation and the Kerala Students Union who were in favour of the college management.
Farook College reportedly has separate seating areas in the cafeteria for boys and girls and in the college corridor benches only boys are allowed to sit. Dinu who spoke up against this regressive practice is now said to be suspended indefinitely by the college.
According to the report, five of the nine students wrote apology letters to the college on their parents’ insistence. Dinu has stated that the college authorities force the parents to make their children give a written apology. The college, meanwhile, is said to be sticking to its stand of not allowing boys and girls to sit together.
