MM News

KARNATAKA: Authorities in southern India on Tuesday shut down schools for the next three days as protests intensified over a ban on hijab that has outraged Muslim students.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai tweeted he has ordered all high schools and colleges to remain shut “to maintain peace and harmony”. “I have ordered closure of all high schools and colleges for next three days. All concerned are requested to cooperate,” the chief minister wrote.

I appeal to all the students, teachers and management of schools and colleges as well as people of karnataka to maintain peace and harmony. I have ordered closure of all high schools and colleges for next three days. All concerned are requested to cooperate.

— Basavaraj S Bommai (@BSBommai) February 8, 2022

The stand-off in Karnataka state has galvanised fears among the minority community about what they say is increasing persecution under the Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi.

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. Campuses have seen escalating confrontations between Muslim students condemning the ban and Hindu pupils that say their classmates have disrupted their education.

The protests escalated today after groups of protesters threw stones at each other and students at a college put up a saffron flag. Officers fire tear gas to disperse a crowd at one government-run campus, while a heavy police presence was seen at schools in nearby towns.

Karnataka’s top court began hearing a petition challenging the legality of the ban on Tuesday but adjourned before issuing a ruling. The court also asked students and the public at large to maintain peace.

“This court has full faith in the wisdom and virtue of public at large and it hopes that the same would be put to practice,” Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party governs Karnataka state and several prominent members have thrown their support behind the ban.

Critics say Modi’s election in 2014 emboldened hardline groups who see India as a Hindu nation and are seeking to undermine its secular foundations at the expense of its 200 million-strong minority Muslim community.