K’taka Hijab Row: PU Colleges to Remain Shut Till 15 Feb; Police Hold Flag March
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had on Thursday said that schools for up to Class 10 would reopen on Monday.
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All pre-university colleges in Karnataka will remain closed till 15 February, the state’s Primary and Secondary Education Dept said in a notice, on 12 February.
In addition to this, the government, on 11 February, had also declared a 'holiday' from 12 to 16 February for degree and diploma colleges in the state.
This comes in the backdrop of Karnataka High Court hearing a batch of petitions filed by Muslim students on their right to wear hijab in educational institutions. During the hearing on Thursday, 10 February, the high court refused to pass an interim order allowing Muslim students to attend classes wearing hijabs, until a final adjudication.
Following the court hearing, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said on Thursday that schools for up to Class 10 would reopen on Monday.
Police Hold Flag March
Ahead of the reopening of schools, the state police held an 'assurance drill' in Udupi.
The CM on Thursday had claimed that the "last two days have been very peaceful," even as reports of hooliganism and violent protests emerged from the state.
Friction Reported in Karnataka's Schools, Colleges
On Tuesday, stone-pelting was reported as a group of students wearing saffron scarves staged a protest against hijabs at a college in Shimoga. The saffron flag was also hoisted on the campus. Police were later deployed at the spot.
A commotion also erupted at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) College in Udupi after a mob of male students, donning saffron scarves and headgear, protested against the wearing of hijab on campus.
Section 144 was imposed in Harihara and Davangere.
Karnataka Police, on Wednesday, had banned gatherings, agitations, and protests of any kind within a 200-metre radius of educational institutions in Bengaluru city for a period of two weeks.
Rowdy visuals also emerged online as a mob of protesters chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' outside a classroom, banged on the door, and proceeded to barge into the room. The visual captures the mob forcefully entering the room in the presence of a teacher, while a class is underway.
The tensions have been on the rise since December 2021, when the Government Girls Pre-University College in Udupi barred six Muslim girls from entering their class wearing hijabs.
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