Hijab row: All eyes on high court which will hear petition on Tuesday

All eyes are now on the Karnataka High Court which will be hearing the petition over the ‘hijab’ row on Tuesday, as the controversial issue refuses to die down across the state.

A section of Muslim girls are adamant on wearing headscarves to college, while the state government has cracked the whip making uniforms mandatory for students attending classes in educational institutions.

There have been several instances during the last few days, especially in coastal Karnataka, wh e re some Muslim girl students, turning up in hijab, w e r e not being allowed i n t o classes, and Hindu boys responding with saffron shawls, also being barred from classes.

The hijab row has also taken a political colour, as the ruling BJP has stood strongly in support of uniform-related rules being enforced by educational institutions, calling the headscarf, a religious symbol, while the opposition Congress has come out in support of protesting Muslim girls.

The issue that initially began in January at a Government PU College in Udupi where six students who attended classes wearing headscarves in violation of the dress code were sent out, has spread to other colleges in the city and in Kundapur and Byndoor.

nd in Kundapur and Byndoor. There have also been reports of similar instances of students turning up at educational institutions with either hijab or saffron shawl in Ramdurg PU College in Belagavi and a college in Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga, and also a group of girls staging demonstration in Mysuru and Kalaburagi in favour of the hijab.

A Muslim girl student who was not allowed to attend class for wearing hijab in Kundapur said, “We are not here for staging any protest or agitation, we are only demanding our right...hijab is our right. We are only asking to let us attend the classes with it, like we used to attend earlier. If we are suddenly asked to remove our hijab, how can we do it?”

Another girl student claimed that hijab was a priority for Muslim girls, as it is a sign of their modesty. “How can someone ask us to keep away our modesty... Are we saying those wearing saffron shawls should not wear it? Both hijab and studies are equally important for us. We want to complete our education while wearing hijab.”

On the other hand, male Hindu students at a Udupi college said, if the institution allows Muslim women to wear hijab, they will also come wearing a saffron shawl.

“If hijab is allowed, then the uniform dress code has to be removed, there can’t be one rule for them (Muslims) and one rule for us (Hindus). If there is a uniform, it should be the same for everyone,” he said.

Another student said that with the government order in place now, Muslim girls staging a protest near college campus is not right. “It is causing a lot of inconvenience for other students, who are attending classes by following the rules.”

Meanwhile, a member of the SDMC (School Development Monitoring Committee) of Kundapur government college, for which holiday was declared on Saturday, stated that they have decided not to allow students wearing either hijab or saffron shawls to attend classes.

“If students come with hijab or saffron shawl, they will be allowed inside college premises and will be made to sit in a designated classroom, but will not be allowed to attend regular class,” he said.  (PTI)