Students in Karnataka stand firm on Hijab

The hijab controversy continued in several parts of Karnataka with a section of girl students remaining steadfast on wearing headscarves to educational institutions on Saturday.

Despite the government order and the Karnataka High Court passing an interim order, restricting students from wearing hijab or saffron scarves, the girls came to schools and colleges donning hijab.

Colleges and schools where girl students came wearing hijab were asked to remove it in order to be allowed entry.

However, they did not budge. In the SJVP College at Harihar in Davangere, girls with hijab were not denied entry.

Also read: Hijab row: Outsiders creating confusion, says Bommai

The pupils refused to go inside without the scarf, stressing that it was as important as education and they cannot give up their right. In Vijay Paramedical College in Belagavi, students complained to the reporters that a holiday was announced by the institution for indefinite period due to the hijab issue.

"We will not sit without scarves. Let the college realise how it affects our education. The Principal is not listening to us," a student told the media.

In Ballari, a group of girls were not allowed inside the Sarala Devi College, which has been witnessing protest from the day the controversy erupted and the government ordered no one should wear clothes that could disturb peace, harmony and, law and order.

The Government college at Gangavathi in Koppal district too faced a similar situation where girls were not allowed inside the college.

In Kudur village in Ramanagara district, some students staged a demonstration on the college ground after they were not allowed to enter the classrooms.

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. This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear hijabs in classes which was not allowed.

Till then, students used to wear hijab to the campus and entered the classroom after removing the scarves, the college principal Rudre Gowda had said.

“The institution did not have any rule on hijab-wearing as such and since no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces,” Gowda had said.

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