A large number of policemen had to be called in when two groups of students — one wearing hijabs and the other wearing orange shawls — stood at the gates of the MGM college in Karnataka’s Udupi
Muslim women hold placards during a demonstration after educational institutes in Karnataka denied entry to students for wearing hijabs. AFP
An air of tension prevailed at the MGM college at Manipal in Udupi after two groups of students wearing hijabs and saffron shawls raised slogans against each other on the campus on Tuesday.
PTI reported that a group of girls wearing burqas and hijab entered the college and held a protest in the premises raising slogans in favour of the right to wear head scarves.
Simultaneously, boys and girls wearing saffron shawls also came to the college and raised slogans in retaliation.
Chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ could be heard, as per PTI.
NDTV reported a girl as saying, “Why are we not being allowed inside? They are wearing saffron scarves only now. We have been wearing the hijab since childhood. They pushed us out of the college gates.”
Fearing the situation would worsen, the college authorities locked the gate. College principal Devidas Nayak and the teaching staff tried to convince the students, but both sides refused to relent.
Later, the principal declared a holiday till further notification, as per the report.
The protests came as the Karnataka High Court began hearing the writ petition filed by a Muslim girl student, seeking permission to wear hijab in college. The Karnataka High Court said on Tuesday that it will abide by the Constitution and not get swayed by passions or emotions while hearing a case on allowing students to wear hijabs in colleges, Live Law reported.
“Constitution is the Bhagavad Gita for me,” Justice Krishna Dixit said. “I have taken the oath to abide by Constitution. Let’s keep the emotions aside.”
The hijab row worsened on Tuesday at Mandya PES College when visuals showed a young student in a hijab being chased by Jai Shri Ram slogan shouting men. Angered by the heckling, she responded with ‘Allahu Akbar’ chants.
The hijab protests began last month at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi when six students alleged that they had been barred from classes for insisting on wearing the headscarf. Right-wing groups in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru objected to Muslim girls wearing the hijab to class.
Meanwhile, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has asked all concerned to keep peace and let children study.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Bommai said, “All the concerned people {in the hijab row} should keep the peace and let children study. The matter will be presented in court today, let’s wait for it.”
With inputs from agencies
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