Karnataka Hijab Row: Members of Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath stage a protest in Chennai
All gatherings and protests near educational institutions were banned in Bengaluru for two weeks today amid the escalating row over hijabs in schools and colleges of Karnataka. Amid protests in the state, right-wing groups have started targeting Muslim girls over their right to wear a hijab in classrooms.
Incidents of stone pelting and use of force by police were reported on Tuesday as protests by students spread to more colleges, prompting the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to declare a three-day holiday for all educational institutions in order "to maintain peace and harmony".
In the midst of the controversy, Karnataka High Court -- which is hearing petitions filed by five women from a government college in Udupi against the hijab ban -- today referred the case to a larger bench in view of "the enormity of questions of importance which were debated". As such, a three-judge bench, headed by the Chief Justice of Karnataka, will tomorrow hear the case to decide if schools and colleges can order students to not wear the hijab in classrooms.
The controversy also crossed state borders and surfaced in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Puducherry on Tuesday. As the media attention on the issue grows, protests both for and against the use of Hijabs in classrooms were seen in several cities today, from Mumbai to Hyderabad.
Here are the Highlights on the Hijab Row:
Attempts being made to inject communal venom into children's minds, says Kerala Chief Minister on Hijab rowKerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday condemned the row over Muslim girls' rights to wear the hijab in educational institutions and said attempts are being made to inject communal venom in the minds of children.
He was responding to a question on the hijab controversy in Karnataka and alleged social media campaign against Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on the way he offered his last respects to legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar.
"Our educational institutions should become a fertile ground for secularism. Instead, efforts are on to inject communal venom in the minds of the children. It is very dangerous," the Chief Minister told reporters
Hijab Row: 3-Judge Bench Headed By Karnataka Chief Justice To Hear Case TomorrowA three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court, headed by the Chief Justice of the state, will hear a case to decide if schools and colleges can order students to not wear the hijab in classrooms. The High Court had earlier in the day referred the case to a larger bench in view of "the enormity of questions of importance which were debated".
The case had been filed by a group of Muslim girls studying in government colleges in the Udupi district against a ban on wearing hijabs in classrooms.
Muslim girls in several colleges in the state were recently denied entry into classrooms for wearing headscarves, which college authorities claim is not allowed.
Hijab Controversy: "Don't let Puducherry turn into another Karnataka," says ex Chief MinisterCongress leader and former Chief Minister of Puducherry V Narayanasamy on Wednesday appealed to the Chief Minister N Rangasamy to break his silence in taking action against those intervening in religious customs of minorities and protect religious harmony in the Union Territory.
Addressing reporters through virtual mode, Mr Narayanasamy said a girl student of a school in neighbouring Ariyankuppam was asked by a teacher to remove her hijab (scarf) while attending classes.
"This instruction of the teacher to the student is highly condemnable and clearly indicates teacher's intervention in the religious beliefs and customs of the minority community," he said and appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene and ensure a harmonious environment by taking action against the teacher.
Karnataka Hijab Protests: "Some Giving Communal Colour...Conspiracy To Defame India," Says Minority Affairs MinisterAmid the hijab row in Karnataka, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday said some people are giving "communal colour" to a decision on dress code and discipline of institutions as part of their "conspiracy to defame India's inclusive culture".
With Pakistani ministers Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chaudhary Fawad Hussain wading into the hijab row, criticising India over the issue, Mr Naqvi also shot back saying Pakistan, which is a "jungle of crime and cruelty" for minorities, is preaching India on tolerance and secularism.
The reality is that the socio-educational-religious rights of minorities are being trampled brazenly in Pakistan, Mr Naqvi told reporters,
Hijab protests spread to HyderabadProtests were held in Hyderabad on Wednesday, in condemnation of certain educational institutions in Karnataka denying entry to hijab-clad girl students into their classrooms.
Extending their support to wearing of hijab, the protesters -- a group of students of few colleges -- took out protest rallies, while a group of women also held a demonstration and expressed their solidarity with the girl students of Karnataka.
Some protesters also raised slogans like "we want justice and we support hijab".
The protesters held placards that read "We stand in solidarity with Hijabi students of Karnataka", "Hijab is our strength" "Hijab is our Right and Our Pride" among several others.
"Hijab is our ournament": Muslim and Hindu women alike protest in Maharashtra over hijab banAmid the hijab controversy in neighbouring Karnataka, hundreds of women on Wednesday held a demonstration in Mumbra township of Maharashtra's Thane district in support of the Islamic headscarf for female Muslim students.
The protesters, who also included Hindu women, shouted slogans like 'Hijab is our ornament', 'Let Karnataka government come to its senses', 'Don't divide people', among others.
Protests for and against the 'hijab' intensified in different parts of Karnataka and turned violent in some places, after the government there issued an order last week making uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students at schools and pre-university colleges across the state.
Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Karnataka Hijab Controversy
Sangh outfits responsible for spreading Hijab row to other districts: Campus Front of IndiaThe hijab issue which first surfaced at a pre-university in Udupi could have been resolved locally and Sangh Parivar outfits are responsible for spreading it to other districts, Campus Front of India (CFI) Karnataka state president Atauallah Punjalkatte alleged on Wednesday.
Addressing reporters at Udupi, he claimed that the Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat had also encouraged the Sangh outfits even when the High Court was hearing the issue.
He said the government had not taken any action against those who hoisted saffron flag on the flag post meant for hoisting the national flag in Shivamogga. There was also no action against attempts to carry out attack Muslim students.
BJP creating unwarranted issues to break unity of youth in Karnataka: Congress General SecretaryAmid the ongoing developments around the hijab controversy in Karnataka, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Wednesday wrote a letter to students of the state wherein he alleged that the BJP-led Karnataka government's 'vested interests' are creating unwarranted issues just to "break the unity and spirit of Karnataka's students and youth".
In the letter, the Congress leader wrote, "Multilingual, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural identity of Bangalore and Karnataka has become a guiding principle of our growth. Mired by the stench of corruption and misgovernance, the BJP government of Karnataka and its vested interests are creating unwarranted issues just to break the unity and spirit of Karnataka's students and youth."
BJP MP Hema Malini reacts to Karnataka Hijab row
Uniform should be followed: Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Karnataka Hijab Row
"Was She Provoked? Can't Encourage Allah-hu-Akbar": Karnataka Minister On Woman Who Fought Back On HijabKarnataka's education minister BC Nagesh claimed today that the burqa-clad college student who was caught on camera yesterday standing up to a mob in saffron, made the first move in her show of defiance.
"The students didn't want to gherao the girl who was coming outside the college in Mandya. No other student was around her when she shouted "Allah-hu-Akbar". Was she provoked? Can't encourage "Allah-hu-Akbar' or 'Jai Shri Ram' on campus," Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI today.
Hijab row: Karnataka High Court refers case to larger benchA decision on whether schools and colleges can order Muslim girls to not wear hijabs in class was passed on to a larger bench by the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday, a day after a face-off over the right to wear the religious headscarves forced educational institutes to close down for three days.
The controversy started last month, with six students of the Udupi's Government Girls PU College alleging that they were barred from classes for wearing headscarves and taking the matter to court.
The standoff in Karnataka over headscarves has been intensifying for days with fresh demonstrations on Tuesday seeing policemen fire tear gas to disperse a crowd, while many students took a confrontational position and showed up in saffron scarves.
No proposal to ban hijab in Madhya Pradesh, says government
The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday said that no proposal to ban 'hijab' in educational institutions in the state is under its consideration even as state school education minister Inder Singh Parmar, who had backed 'hijab' ban and proposed a dress code in schools, said that his statement was "wrongly interpreted".
"There is no controversy over (the wearing of) 'hijab' in Madhya Pradesh. No proposal is under consideration of the state government regarding hijab ban. So, there should be no confusion in this regard," Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who is also spokesperson of the state government, told reporters.
Karnataka High Court to take up hijab case at 2.30 pm
The Karnataka High Court will resume hearing in the petition in the Hijab row at 2.30 pm today. The petition was filed by students of a Karnataka college who say they were not allowed to attend classes wearing a hijab.
Explained: Why Are College Campuses In Karnataka So Charged UpSix students of a government-run pre-university college in Karnataka's Udupi district had, in December 2021, alleged they were barred from attending classes for insisting on wearing the hijab - a headscarf that some Muslim girls and women wear. What started at one college - Women's PU College in Udupi - spread like wildfire in the state and more colleges began shutting out students wearing the hijab. The issue snowballed when another group of students began turning up at colleges wearing saffron scarves and shouting slogans of Jai Shri Ram (praise Lord Ram).
It is woman's right to decide what she wants to wear, stop harassing: Priyanka GandhiWhether it is a bikini, a 'ghoonghat', a pair of jeans or a 'hijab', it is a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Wednesday amid the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka.
She asserted that this right is guaranteed by the Constitution.
"Refusing To Let Girls Go To School...": Malala Yousafzai On Hijab RowNobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has weighed in on the controversy over Muslim students alleging that they were not allowed to enter campuses and classrooms wearing the hijab in Karnataka. The girls' education activist tweeted that "refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying."
Karnataka High Court to hear hijab matter todayThe Karnataka High Court will continue hearing the hijab plea today. The court had yesterday appealed to the students to maintain peace.
Delhi University Students' Outfit Protests Against Hijab RestrictionsA students' outfit at Delhi University (DU) on Tuesday protested against hijab restrictions in a government pre-university college in Udupi in Karnataka.
The Muslim Students' Federation protested outside the Arts Faculty in DU North Campus. The gathering comprised 50 students, including women, who were wearing hijabs.