Kerala teacher's sexist remark sparks 'watermelon' protest against moral policing at Farook College

Girl students of Farook Training College in Kerala’s Kozhikode took out protests to the main gate of the institution under the banner of Students Federation of India (SFI) on Monday and demanded action against assistant professor Jouhar Munavvir for his remarks on outfits of Muslim girl students. [caption id=“attachment_4398077” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Farook Training College. Image courtesy: farooktrainingcollege.org[/caption] A clip of his speech has gone viral. He can be heard saying, “I am a teacher of a college where 80 percent of the students are girls and of that, the majority are Muslims. These girls are not wearing dresses as per the religious tradition. They are not covering their chests with hijab. But showing part of it is like a slice of red watermelon being displayed,” as reported by Deccan Chronicle. Students took out a ‘Watermelon march’ and sought action against the professor. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), RSS’ student wing, smashed watermelons in front of the college. According to CA Jawahar, principal of Farook Training College, Jouhar made the statements during a speech delivered at a counselling session. “The speech is from three months ago that the teacher made elsewhere and not on our campus. So, we have no responsibility in that. He regularly holds talks and motivational speeches for families on holidays. No student has raised a complaint against him, so we are not in a position to take any action against him,” the principal told The News Minute. With inputs from PTI.