December 27, 2021: Six girls of government women’s PU college, Udupi launch a protest by sitting outside classrooms after college authorities prohibited them for wearing hijab and attending classes.
January 31, 2022: The girls file a writ petition in the High Court against the decision of the college administration, contending that wearing hijab is a fundamental right of Muslim women.
February 2: Hindu boys start wearing saffron stoles at few colleges in Kundapur, Udupi district.
February 3: A day after the boys wore stoles, video of a principal from government college Kundapur shutting college gates on hijab-clad students goes viral. The Kundapur college becomes the second college to ban hijab clad women from attending classes.
February 4: Bhandarkar’s college in Udupi becomes the first private institute to bar entry to hijab-clad girls. The students later maintain that college rules did not prohibit hijab - provided it matched the uniform, until then.
February 5: Education department issues an order mandating the government-approved uniform in schools, and uniform decided by the College Development Council in PU colleges.
February 7: Protest against hijab in college campuses spread to different parts of the state. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who was in Delhi, appeals for peace.
February 8: Bommai orders a 3-day holiday for all classes beyond ninth standard and colleges even as a video of a burkha-clad student being heckled at PES College, Mandya goes viral and the Hijab row attracts global attention.
February 9: Justice Krishna Dixit refuses to provide interim relief in the petition filed by Udupi students, refers the case to a 3-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Dixit and Justice J M Khazi.
February 11: The High Court passes an interim order prohibiting students from wearing religious clothing - hijab, saffron stoles, scarves etc. Also, Supreme Court declines ‘urgent hearing’ of the issue saying it will only get involved at an ‘appropriate time’. Security beefed up in Udupi.
February 12: PU colleges ordered to remain closed till February 15.
February 17: Government says that the hijab row is restricted to only eight high schools and PU colleges.
February 18: FIR filed against 15-20 students by the principal of a private college in Tumakuru for violating prohibitory orders as government had banned protests around colleges.
February 24: HC order not applicable to turban-wearing Sikh students, says Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh.
February 25: HC concludes hearing on the case after 11 days; reserves verdict.
March 15: HC rules that wearing hijab is not essential religious practice.
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