Hijab row: HC says some mischievous people keeping the issue burning, posts matter for Wednesday

PTI, Feb 8, 2022, 5:37 PM IST

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday appealed to students and people to maintain peace and tranquility as the Hijab row escalated in parts of the State. After hearing the petitions filed by some students studying in a Government Pre-University College for Girls in the coastal town of Udupi, the court posted the matter for Wednesday. ”This Court requests the students and the public to maintain peace and tranquility. This Court has full faith in the wisdom and virtue of public at large and hopes that the same would be put to practice,” the single bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit said.

The petitioners sought a declaration from the Court that they have a fundamental right to practice essential religious practices, including wearing of Hijab as per Islamic faith, on the college premises.

Asking people to have faith in the Indian constitution, Justice Dixit observed that only some mischievous people were keeping the issue burning. Justice Dixit also pointed out that agitations, sloganeering and students attacking each other were not good.

Earlier on Tuesday, as protests for and against the ‘hijab’ intensified at colleges in different parts of Karnataka, state’s Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, while appealing for peace, said no one should give an opportunity to use the police force. The Home Minister’s warning came as tension prevailed at some educational institutions in Udupi, Shivamogga, Bagalkote and other parts, forcing the police and authorities to intervene. Protests erupted at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi today after a large group of students wearing saffron stoles and headgears raised slogans in the college campus as hijab clad Muslim girls were staging a protest ”demanding justice”, forcing the police and college authorities to intervene. Some colleges have declared holidays in the district. According to police sources, a minor stone pelting incident was reported near a college in Bagalkote and few students even tried to barge into the campus, whom police dispersed using mild force. A similar incident was also reported at a college in Shivamogga district, and police had to intervene to bring the situation under control, the sources added.