Hijab row hearing resumes today, all eyes on high court

NT Correspondents

All eyes are on the Karnataka high court which will on Monday, resume the hearing of petitions filed by Muslim students challenging the ban on the hijab in educational campuses across the state.

The hearing restarts on a day when schools will resume classes 1 to 10 after a five–day break which was imposed following widespread violence last Tuesday over the hijab issue. The case had also reached the corridors of the Supreme Court with the top court judges saying they would prefer to wait for the ruling of the high court on the issue.

The HC while adjourning the case on Friday, had said that no one should come to educational campuses wearing religious dress till the court ruling in the matter

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai expressed confidence that peace and normalcy will prevail in the state after the opening of schools. He said in Hubballi that a decision regarding reopening of pre-university and degree colleges will be taken after assessing the situation.The government had on Friday said that the holiday for colleges has been extended till February 16. On reports about the alleged involvement of certain organisations and foreign hands in the hijab row, the CM said, “such reports in the media and social media are being taken note of by our investigating officials, who are also gathering information at their end.”

Bommai, who also holds the Finance portfolio and will be presenting his first budget early next month said, all-round development of the state is on his mind. “The Budget will focus on economic development, public welfare and financial discipline. We will have to give a boost to an economy that has slowed down,” he added.

Sec. 144 around all high schools in sensitive Udupi

Mangaluru: The Udupi administration has imposed prohibitory orders around all high schools in the district from Monday till February 19. The move is a precautionary measure with schools set to reopen Monday after the holiday declared by the state government in view of the hijab-saffron shawl controversy. The order will be in effect from 6 am on February 14 to 6 pm on February 19.

A girl in hijab will be India’s PM one day: Owaisi

Lucknow: A girl wearing hijab will become the prime minister of the country one day, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said amid the controversy over Muslim women’s headscarves. “If a girl decides to wear hijab and asks her parents, and when her parents allow her to wear it, who can stop her from wearing it? We will see it, Insha Allah,” Owaisi is heard saying in a 43-second video of his address in an election rally.