The Karnataka hijab row is not going to die down anytime soon. With the Karnataka High Court adjourning the hearing for Monday and tensions prevailing in many areas, the Dakshina Kannada district administration has extended the prohibitory orders around the schools and colleges of the district till February 26. The order will be applicable from 6 pm on February 19 to 6 pm on February 26 for a radius of 200 metres around the schools and colleges in the district.
Amid the simmering tension and educational institutions not allowing entry of students wearing saffron scarves or hijab, as many as 58 girls have been suspended from colleges for violating the rule. It may be recalled that the Karntaka High Court had asked students to not wear saffron scarves or hijab inside the educational institutions till the final order.
According to a PTI report, girl students in many parts of Karnataka were denied entry into their respective educational institutions today as well as they arrived in hijabs, despite the court order. As many as 58 students at Shiralakoppa in Shivamogga district who had refused to remove their hijab and staged a demonstration against the government pre-university college administration were suspended.
Despite a government order and the Karnataka High Court’s interim order restricting the students from wearing hijab or saffron scarves inside classrooms, the girls came to schools and colleges donning the headscarf.
On January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into the classroom by wearing hijab.
Meanwhile, RSS-linked Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) today appealed to the minority community to rise above orthodox thinking and embrace progressive ideas. It said that education is more important for the community’s progress than wearing hijab at educational institutions.
It noted that Muslims have the highest rate of illiteracy at 43 per cent in India. “Muslims should think about why they have the lowest literacy rate. The Muslims of India should adopt a progressive approach. They have to understand that they need a book, not a hijab. They should rise above orthodox thinking and focus on education and progress,” MRM national convenor and spokesperson Shahid Sayeed told PTI.