After HC order on reopening colleges, Karnataka govt takes cautious approach

Protests by Muslim students demanding the right to wear hijab in class, and counter agitation by Hindu youths, at some colleges in Udupi district had lead to tensions on campuses across Karnataka leading to the closure of colleges since February 8.

On Friday, the Karnataka High Court released an interim order for colleges to reopen and for students to refrain from wearing clothes that are not prescribed under colleges’ uniform norms.

“Pending consideration of all these petitions, we restrain all the students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing saffron shawls (Bhagwa) scarfs, hijab, religious flags or the like, within the classroom, until further orders,” a full bench of the Karnataka High Court said in its order.

The Karnataka government has decided to allow schools to open from Monday, but has adopted a cautious approach on reopening colleges. “We want to go stage by stage,” CM Bommai said.

Sources in the government said a graded opening of colleges has been proposed since the high court order states that hijab and other symbols of religion cannot be worn only in those colleges where it has been specifically barred by the College Development Council. Only pre-university government colleges in some regions of Karnataka — like Udupi and Chikmagalur — are known to have banned hijab, while government degree colleges have no such issue since there are no uniforms at the degree level.

“We make it clear that this order is confined to such institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code/uniform,” the high court said.

Sources in the government said the state is wary of issues over the wearing of hijab and saffron shawls arising again in colleges where there are no uniform norms. “There is some worry over what would happen if girls wear hijab in colleges where uniforms are not prescribed,” the sources said.

The minister for higher education Dr C N Ashwathnarayan said on Friday that degree, post-graduate and technical colleges will remain shut till February 16 for offline classes. Examinations that are scheduled will however be held, he said.

Meanwhile, the Campus Front of India (CFI) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), which have been backing the efforts of as many as 18 Muslim girls from Udupi district to fight for the right to wear hijab, has expressed dissatisfaction with the high court’s interim order even as the BJP MLA for the Udupi region — who is the president of the college committees in Udupi — has welcomed the order.

“The interim order is not to our satisfaction. We are of the opinion, however, that we should wait till Monday when the court will resume the hearing. We have faith in the court and are confident that the final judgment will be in our favour,” said CFI state president Athaullah Punjalkatte.

“The question of going back to college now is a personal issue for the girls and their families. It is dependent on their religious beliefs. It is a decision to be taken by them with their parents,” he said.

The leader of the CFI — a youth unit of the SDPI and the Popular Front of India — said it was not right to equate the demand of the Muslim girls to wear hijab with the counter efforts to wear saffron shawls to classes by Hindu youths.

“There is one thing that we have to point out and that is the issue of the hijab being equated with the saffron shawls. The saffron shawl campaign has been a strategy of the Sangh Parivar and the ABVP to misguide the court in Karnataka,” Punjalkatte said.

“The court order equates the use of hijabs with the use of saffron shawls and this is not right we feel. However, since the court is in a position of authority, we feel that we will wait for the final decision of the court. We are confident of a verdict in our favour. Our demand is an early verdict since exams are around the corner,” he added.

State committee member of the SDPI, Ataullah Jokatte, said the SDPI will wait for a final court order. “The interim order is only a temporary order. We should wait till Monday. We will wait for a full order. We have faith in the court and the Constitution. The Constitution provides us freedom of religion and the high court will recognise this is what we feel,” Jokatte said.

“On the issue of freedom of religion, no one should create obstructions. It is not just about the hijab or restricted to any one religion. In this country, we have a beautiful Constitution which was created by Babasaheb Ambedkar. The Constitution gives freedom to practice all religions and nobody has the right to obstruct the freedom of religion,” the SDPI leader said.

K Raghupathi Bhat, BJP MLA for Udupi and chairman of the college development committees of government colleges in Udupi, has welcomed the interim order.

“Everybody must obey the orders of the Karnataka High Court. Education is important to us. I do not say that hijab should be prevented in the colleges, but it should be removed when entering the classes for lessons. Everybody must have a broad mind and accept this condition,” Bhat said.

The BJP MLA blamed the CFI for the hijab controversy in Udupi. “It started in six colleges in our district. If we look at the background of this issue, then it is evident that it did not occur due to the decisions taken by the students themselves, but they have been instigated by the Campus Front of India. We have given proof of this to the state government. These six girls opened Twitter accounts in November and if we look at the tweets, they were linked to Campus Front tweets,” he said on Friday.

“The innocent girls have been led down a path of blind faith and used to spoil the social atmosphere. This is also an international conspiracy since foreign media has been involved with this as well. My plea is for an NIA probe in the issue since this is a grave security issue,” Bhat said.

“These girls have been coming to class for the last 18 months. They would wear the hijab and come to college and later remove the hijab while entering classrooms. If they have to change their stance and start demanding that they be allowed in class with hijab — especially given the fact that they hail from poor homes — it means that others are behind the scenes and this should be probed,” the MLA said.

The CFI’s Punjalkatte said the social media handles were the personal domain of the students and they had the liberty to follow or forward what they like on a personal front.

“They came to the CFI only after their demands were not addressed in December. We have definitely supported them in their fight subsequently. It is a fight for their constitutional rights,” he said.