Karnataka hijab row: PU colleges to remain closed till Wednesday

Colleges have remained shut since last Wednesday (February 9) amid tension in campuses over the hijab issue.

The state’s Higher Education Minister C N Ashwathnarayan had on Friday announced that all degree, post-graduate and technical colleges would remain shut until the coming Wednesday (Feb 16).

Police, meanwhile, have held flag marches in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts as part of preventive measures in communally sensitive areas.

There were, however, some incidents that led to the flaring up of tensions.

In one such incident, a video was being shared since Friday of students performing namaz inside a school in Dakshina Kannada.

The video was purportedly from a government school in Dakshina Kannada’s Ankathadka. According to a source, the video was of students performing namaz on February 4, but it began to be shared from Friday (Feb 11).

Education department officials visited the school on Friday and have sought a report.

In another incident, in Bengaluru, people gathered in front of Vidyasagar English Public school Saturday morning amid tensions over the alleged use of derogatory words by a teacher to a section of students regarding religious attire.

Bengaluru South deputy director of public instruction S Rajendra also visited the school along with police.