Hijab protests spread, Karnataka govt shuts colleges, high schools for three days

“I appeal to all the students, teachers and management of schools and colleges as well as people of karnataka to maintain peace and harmony.I have ordered closure of all high schools and colleges for next three days. All concerned are requested to cooperate” : CM @BSBommai

— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) February 8, 2022

Bommai said the state will “follow the High Court’s order” on the issue. “We are waiting for the judgment (on the hijab ban case) from the High Court. The court also has appealed for peace till it issues the judgment,” he said.

Official sources told The Indian Express that the decision was prompted by rising concerns over protests and confrontations between students wearing the hijab and large groups of boys and girls wearing saffron shawls in several colleges.

In southern Karnataka, where the issue has rapidly widened communal faultlines, prohibitory orders were imposed in Shivamogga town while the police opened fire in the air in Davangere after a large number of students and pro-Hindutva activists gathered before a college.

In Bommai’s home district of Haveri, four youths wearing saffron shawls were arrested for allegedly assaulting police personnel. The incident occurred while the youths were being taken into custody after one of them “tried to breach the peace” at the Hirekerur first grade college.

The state government’s holiday decision covers classes 8-12 in schools, all first grade or junior colleges, and post-graduate and technical education institutions. It came after the Karnataka High Court began hearing pleas by a group of students from Udupi, where the issue first emerged last month, that the ban violates the right to freedom of religion.

Many campuses in the state saw tense situations marked by stone-pelting incidents and use of force by police | Express photo by Jitendra M

The hijab row also found an echo in the Lok Sabha for the second day with Opposition MPs staging a walkout demanding a statement on the issue from Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

According to official sources, stone-pelting by protesters and lathicharge by police were also reported on Tuesday from Bagalkot and Vijayapura in northern Karnataka.

At the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi, a large group of students wearing saffron shawls and headgear raised slogans in support of the ban and rushed towards hijab-wearing students who were staging a protest “demanding justice”. The situation was contained after the police and college authorities intervened.

In Mandya, a hijab-wearing student confronted a group of saffron-shawl wearing boys, who tried to heckle her. She later blamed “outsiders” for causing trouble and said she had the support of her classmates and college authorities.

In Shivamogga, boys wearing saffron scarves gathered in front of a college in support of the hijab ban and demanded entry. The police resorted to a “mild lathicharge to defuse the situation” and later clamped prohibitory orders under CrPC 144 on Tuesday and Wednesday in the town.

Udupi: Students wearing saffron robes and hijab stage a protest outside the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College campus, in Udupi district, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. (PTI Photo)

In this district, a video of a saffron flag being hoisted inside a first-grade college by a boy clambering up the pole triggered a war of words between the BJP and Congress.

Congress leader D K Shivakumar said the situation “has gone so out of hand that in one case the National flag was replaced by a saffron flag”. While Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra asked Shivakumar to get “correct information”, the state BJP wanted the Congress leader to “provide evidence” or “face legal action”.

Local authorities said the Tricolour is raised on the pole on Republic Day and Independence Day, and the Karnataka flag on Kannada Rajyotsava. “On other days, there is no flag on the pole,” an official said.

Stone-pelting was reported in Vijayapura district, too, after two groups of students, wearing the hijab and saffron shawls, were stopped at the entrance of Shanteshwar Pre-University College in Indi. With Dalit student groups joining those wearing the hijab, police conducted a lathicharge to disperse the crowd.

Speaking to reporters, Jnanendra appealed to students to not “give an opportunity to use police force”. “Students should think about their future. I appeal to parents to guide their children. Let’s all work towards colleges functioning in a peaceful manner,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah slammed the BJP state government and said “police have become mute spectators without taking action against those causing trouble”.

In a series of tweets, he described the “issue around hijab and kesari (saffron)” as “highly concerning & leading to tussle among students”. “Schools & colleges are turning into a battlefield,” he posted, adding that the “issue could have been resolved harmoniously at the local level”. “Karnataka BJP, which politicised the issue, is now clueless on how to control the situation,” he wrote.