Indian state closes schools, prohibits gatherings over hijab ban protests

NEW DELHI: Authorities within the southern Indian state of Karnataka closed colleges and banned gatherings on Wednesday after protests towards Muslim ladies sporting headscarves within the classroom turned violent.

The controversy started in late January, when six woman college students at a government-run senior highschool within the state’s Udupi district began a peaceable protest after they have been barred from attending lessons for sporting the hijab.

After the state authorities final week backed the varsity authorities and banned the hijab at academic establishments, the schoolgirls attracted media consideration, demonstrations of their assist, in addition to counterprotests by some Hindu teams.

However the rallies turned violent on Tuesday, with studies of stone throwing and arson, main the chief minister of Karnataka to order all colleges to shut for 3 days. Police within the state’s capital imposed a ban on every kind of gatherings close to academic establishments for the following 10 days.

Bangalore police commissioner Kamal Kant stated in an announcement the ban had been imposed as “at some locations, these protests have led to violence” and it was “important to implement correct safety measures to take care of public peace and order.”

The women who staged the preliminary protest stated the occasions have been unprecedented as they’d by no means confronted any issues over sporting the hijab earlier than within the state, the place 12 p.c of the inhabitants is Muslim.

“That is an pointless controversy, and we by no means confronted a difficulty sporting hijab within the faculty up to now,” Almas AH, one of many women, informed Arab Information.

The ban has raised fears amongst Muslim college students within the state dominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Occasion.

“There has by no means been a difficulty with us sporting hijab,” stated Aysha Byndoor, one other protester from Udupi. “Hijab is our cultural marking and it’s our selection.”

The Affiliation for Safety of Civil Rights, which filed a petition with the Karnataka Excessive Courtroom, stated the ban went towards the structure.

“India is a rustic recognized for its variety and the structure protects this,” APCR Secretary-Common Nadim Khan informed Arab Information.

“We now have belief within the court docket. This can be a delicate problem. The Hindu proper wing is attempting to impose its cultural nationalism the place it desires to impose majoritarian selection on the individuals following totally different spiritual practices.”

The court docket on Wednesday requested the chief justice to arrange a bigger bench to determine whether or not the ban violated the basic rights of people.