Several parts of Karnataka have been witnessing intensifying protests over the ‘hijab’ row with many campuses reporting incidents of stone-pelting and use of force by police.
Giving an account of the functioning in Udupi’s Government Pre-University College for Girls before the protests started, a friend of the protesting Muslim students tells CNN-News18 about how “the behaviour of the Muslim students changed” when they were with the members of Campus Front of India (CFI).
“The Muslim students were not wearing hijabs inside classrooms before the protests,” says Yashaswini, a student of the same college.
“This (wearing of hijabs) started around the 30th and because of this more than 600 people are affected. They started this as soon as the mid-term exams got over. We tried to convince them to drop it since only two months are remaining. But they were not ready to compromise. They insisted that they be allowed to wear hijab,” she says.
“When alone, they would speak normally, but when the members of CFI would be present, their style would change — the way they would look or speak. They would ignore us or speak in a rash manner. We were close friends but they started to distance themselves once the protest started,” she said. “Nobody was wearing a hijab (earlier) whether they were seniors or classmates. The students wore hijabs only during the first two days at the beginning of first PUC before the uniform was given. The principal then had informed that hijab is not allowed. They didn’t say anything then,” she added.
Talking about the October 29 protest organised by the ABVP against an alleged sexual assault on a student – the pictures of which showed several Muslim students the from Udupi govt college in participation – Yashaswini said, “They knew that the October 29 protest was organised by the ABVP, it was announced in the classroom. Nobody was forced.”
“They got their parents only a few times. After that there were other boys and girls who were introduced as their cousins and relatives.”
The student also claimed that no teacher from the college misbehaved with any students and the statements being made in the media are false. “Teachers didn’t behave rudely with Muslim students wanting Hijab. False statements are being made in media about teachers ill-treating them.”
“The teachers are usually supportive and don’t discriminate. They (students) are making false allegations on TV that the teachers ill-treated them. They never did anything like that in front of us,” Yashaswini added.
Among shocking details that have emerged from Karnataka is an attack on a teacher with iron rods by some miscreants. The attack led to severe head injuries to the teacher in Bagalkot district.
Manjunath Naik (30), a school teacher was attacked with iron rods by miscreants in Banahatti town of Bagalkot district after the violence erupted following students protest, IANS reported.
The Karnataka government on Thursday had decided to resume classes for high school students from next week, even as Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated the High Court has said students should not wear religious dress to colleges.
The government’s decision to resume classes up to Standard X from February 14 and for Pre-University and Degree Colleges thereafter, came at a meeting chaired by the chief minister with his cabinet colleagues holding the Home, Primary and Secondary Education and Higher Education portfolios, and senior officials.
The issue has snowballed into a major controversy across India, with various protests, against and for the anti-Hijab rule in Karnataka colleges, being reported. In Karnataka, protests are being witnessed in various districts, with violence, such as stone-pelting, also having been reported in some incidents.
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