Tensions following the anti-hijab campaign by Hindu nationalist groups intensify in Karnataka’s Udupi district, as more colleges ban Muslim students from attending classes.
Several instances of a stand-off between Muslim students and Hindu students have been reported in the state, while the Home Minister appealed for calm.
On Tuesday, several Hindu students wearing saffron shawls nearly clashed with protesting hijab-clad students in Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi. Many of these students identified themselves as being a part of the ABVP (student wing of the BJP) and the Hindu Jagarana Vedike.
A Muslim girl was heckled in PES college in Karnataka's Bengaluru by Hindu groups protesting against hijab. The girl responded to Jai Shri Raam cries by sloganeering "Allahu Akbar". The college officials interviewed and diffused the situation.#HijabBan
Video courtesy: @zoo_bear pic.twitter.com/e85RyjoFwb— Maktoob (@MaktoobMedia) February 8, 2022
Muslim girls wearing hijab were taken to a separate classroom in the college and asked to wait. After no word from the college management for a long period, the hijab-clad girl students went outside. A small crowd had gathered there. Jai Shri Ram slogans were raised by the saffron-clad young men when the girl students approached the gate. Many breached the college walls and joined the anti-hijab party and rallied against the girls.
Javeriya Fathima, a 20-year-old third-year BSC student at MGM, said “First they started to raise their voice against us. Then all the (Muslim) girls, we all started to raise our voices,” reported The Newsminute. Javeriya and a few other students then said they tried to leave the college, but the gates had been closed. When they were finally opened, the boys physically forced them out. “They literally pushed us. Go out. Get out. Some said, get lost,” she said.
“These boys don’t know what they’re doing. They’re totally blind. Some boys know they’re doing wrong but it’s all for fun,” she added.
Until this week, the students who spoke to TNM said they had never faced an issue wearing their hijabs to the college. They noted that it was after the incident involving Muslim women students in Kundapur that the college principal announced on Monday that they would no longer be allowed to wear a hijab on campus. When they arrived in college today wearing their hijab, the college lecturers tried to enforce the principal’s order, the girls said. “This is a matter of dignity. Hijab is our first priority. Education is the second priority,” Javeriya spoke to The Newsminute.
Cops had to intervene to control the situation.
#WATCH | Protests erupt at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi as students wearing hijab & another group of students wearing saffron stoles-headgears raise slogans on college campus.
Karnataka HC to hear a plea today against hijab ban in several junior colleges of state. pic.twitter.com/f65loUWFLP
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022
Since Sunday, many Muslim groups have staged protests against the ongoing ban on Muslim students. The ongoing islamophobic campaign by Hindutva groups has captured national attention.
Meanwhile, the hijab row took a new turn in Chikkamagaluru on Monday after nearly 30 Dalit students of IDSG Government College students arrived wearing blue shawls and raised “Jai Bhim” slogans in support of hijab-clad Muslim girls.
This story first appeared on maktoobmedia.com