Karnataka Bandh today: Muslim bodies denounce HC verdict on hijab, call for shutdown

Bengaluru: Muslim organisations in Karnataka have given a call for a ‘bandh’ in the state on Thursday (March 17) opposing the recent verdict of the Karnataka High Court on the hijab row.

It may be recalled that the high court had on Tuesday dismissed all the petitions seeking direction to the government for allowing hijab inside classrooms. The court had also stated that “wearing hijab is not an essential part of Islam.”

The Amir-E-Shariat of Karnataka, Maulana Sagir Ahmad Khan Rashadi, on Wednesday gave a call for a state-wide bandh on Thursday, which has been supported by hundreds of organisations across the southern state.

"Expressing our anger against the sad order of the Karnataka High Court regarding hijab, a state-wide bandh will be observed on Thursday," Rashadi stated, as he appealed to the entire Muslim community to support the bandh between 6 am and 6 pm on Thursday.

The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Campus Front of India (CFI) have also supported the bandh call. Both the organisations maintained that the high court verdict is against the constitutional rights of an individual. CFI office-bearers said that the high court verdict is against individual and religious rights.

However, barring a few incidents of protests, the schools and colleges in Karnataka resumed functioning across the state on Wednesday after the Special Bench of the High Court passed a verdict dismissing the petitions seeking permission to allow hijab in classrooms.

As many as 22 students in Chikkamagaluru IDSG College staged a protest demanding their right to wear hijab. They gathered at the entrance of the college and staged the agitation holding placards.

The students at Madhugiri Government College in Tumakuru district also protested after they were turned away from classes. The schools and colleges saw mostly full attendance and a large number of students, including those belonging to the minority community, attended classes without hijab as per the prescribed uniform.

The pre-university education institutes also started operating with police cover in the coastal town of Udupi. The Udupi Pre-University College where the agitation on hijab, which turned into a major crisis threatening law and order situation in the state, also started working without any incidents of disturbance.

The six students, who started the agitation, have stated that they won`t attend classes until they are allowed into classes with hijab. 

Udupi BJP MLA Raghupathy Bhat, who is also the President of the Pre-University College had requested them to attend classes following rules of uniform and he has also assured that the school management would arrange for making up for the loss of classes and they shouldn`t keep any bitterness towards them. However, the girls have rejected the offer.

Udupi district administration has continued the prohibitory orders on gathering, celebration, protests. The police department has deputed three platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and five platoons of the District Armed Reserve (DAR) in Udupi.

The students attended classes normally in the Shivamogga district, which witnessed large-scale violence after the murder of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha.

In the Yadgir district, many students have returned to their homes after the college management refused to allow them to write preparatory exams with hijab. The government college management in Chikkaballapur asked a girl student, who attended classes with a hijab, to go to a separate room and remove the hijab.