K’taka hijab row resurfaces; Mangaluru university students protest saying some wore hijab
India Today
After some Muslim students wore hijabs to classes in Karnataka’s Mangaluru University, several Hindu students walked out of class and began protesting on campus. They demanded that Muslim students remove hijabs before coming to class.
The controversy surrounding hijab resurfaced in Karnataka on Thursday, May 26. Hindu students at Mangaluru university protested on campus saying Muslim students came to class wearing hijabs. The protesting students demanded that Muslim students remove their hijabs before coming to class.
The hijab war erupted initially in the coastal region of Udupi in January 2022. Now, Hindu students in Mangaluru claim that 40 Muslim students attended classes while wearing hijabs.
Reacting to this, Hindu students exited the class and sat out on the campus grounds in protest. They have stated that they would continue protesting until the Muslim students remove their hijabs or are sent out. Protesting students said that they would not attend classes until the matter was resolved.
Negotiations are reportedly happening over the issue. However, there have been no statements yet from the college administration, the local MLA or the students who wore hijabs.
Currently, 40-50 Hindu students are sitting on campus in protest against students wearing hijabs to class. They have demanded that students must remove their hijabs and that they should follow the court’s order regarding the same.
They have also demanded that the College Development Committee (CDC) should meet immediately and tell the students once and for all that hijabs won’t be allowed inside the campus.
The Karnataka High Court bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, and Justices JM Khazi and Krishna Dixit, on Tuesday, March 15, ruled that wearing a hijab was not an essential part of Islam.
