Karnataka Hijab Row: Close college for 1 week in State

Karnataka Hijab Row: A massive crowd of students, one group in the hijab and another wearing saffron scarves, protested at a college in Karnataka this morning in a snowballing confrontation just before a High Court hearing on hijab restrictions on campus. Karnataka Hijab Row: Close college for 1 week in State

Congress leader DK Shivakumar issued a tweet stating, “The situation in some Karnataka educational institutions has gone so out of hand that in one case the National flag was replaced by a saffron flag. I think the affected institutions should be closed for a week to restore law and order. Teaching can continue online.”

Hearing the matter of the hijab ban in some junior colleges, the Karnataka High Court said that it will go by the Constitution and not by emotions. The HC said, “Keep emotions away. Let’s go by facts and what the Constitution says. AG also should keep emotions aside.” Justice Krishna Dixit said, “We will go by reason, by law, not by passion or emotions. We will go by what the Constitution says. The Constitution is the Bhagavad Gita for me. I have taken the oath to abide by the Constitution. Let’s keep the emotions aside. We can’t see this happening every day.”

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Section 144 has been imposed across Shivamogga as the violence spread to the Karnataka district as the controversy over wearing of Hijabs in educational institutions intensified on Tuesday. As per the reports, violence is also being witnessed in Shikaripura. According to TV reports, police have resorted to lathicharge as pro-Hijab groups pelted stones at private buses near the Junior college. Besides, the administration has also deployed additional forces to avoid any untoward incident.

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The hijab row started after a few students in Udupi Government Pre-University College started wearing hijab last month and were turned out of classrooms. The students refused to attend classes without hijab and the college administration on the other hand took a firm stand to allow them only if they shun hijab.