The stand-off and the political slugfest in Karnataka over the use of hijab by Muslim girls in classrooms in the state continued with protests intensifying in the state.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stood up in support of the students who have been banned from wearing the hijab in classrooms.
“Whether 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. This right is guaranteed by the Indian constitution. Stop harassing women,” she tweeted.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday alleged in the Lok Sabha that atrocities are being committed against people who wear hijab and demanded a statement from the centre.
“If anyone wears hijab, it cannot be termed as a crime,” Chowdhury said. "Attempts to forcefully remove hijab are being made. Such things should come to an end.”
Karnataka’s ruling BJP hit out at the opposition, tweeting, “It is clear that these communal parties will go to any extent to pursue their ‘appeasement politics’”.
The controversy erupted last month after students at a government-run pre-university college in Karnataka’s Udupi were told not to wear hijabs, an edict that soon spread to other educational institutions in the state.
The aggrieved students, who began camping outside the college as a mark of protest, said it was their constitutional right to wear the hijab. One of the protesting girls said even though the college is only for female students, some of the professors teaching them are male, and therefore, they should be allowed to use the hijab in the classrooms as well.
Last week, the government had issued an order making uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students at schools and pre-university colleges across the state.
The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday referred to a larger bench petitions against the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions.
“Having regard to the enormity of questions of importance which are debated, the court is of the considered opinion that the papers be put at the hand of the Chief Justice to decide if a larger bench can be constituted in the subject matter,” Justice Krishna S Dixit said.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has ordered the closure of all high schools and colleges for three days. The state government has banned protests near schools and colleges for two weeks.
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