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.