Udupi Students Protest Against Hijab Ban: What Has Happened So Far?

Udupi Hijab row has been spread over to other Karnataka districts as a section of students in Sir MV Government College in Shivamogga protested against Muslim female students wearing hijab in the college. The first incident of the hijab row broke out in Mangaluru and Chikkamangaluru colleges following Udupi.

Udupi hijab row is starting to spread over other Karnataka districts as students in Sir MV Government College in Shivamogga protested against Muslim girls wearing hijab in college classrooms. Along with Udupi and Shivamogga, students of colleges in Mangaluru, Chikkamangaluru, and Kundapur have also protested against Muslim girls wearing hijab.

Here’s what has happened so far:

• Students protested against Muslim girls wearing hijab at government colleges of Mangaluru and Chikkamangaluru. A group of right-wing students donned saffron-coloured scarves in Mangaluru and Chikkamangaluru government colleges in protest against allowance to wear hijab, as per reports.
• The principal of college in Koppa, Chikkamangaluru issued a uniform dress code to minimise the tensions. He instructed students to wear shawls to cover their heads instead of hijab or saffron scarves.
• In Udupi, the management of pre-university government college dismissed six Muslim girls from attending college classes for violating the dress code on January 1, 2022. One of the six students filed a petition in the High Court demanding the right to wear hijab under Article 14 and 25 of the Indian Constitution.
• A meeting including the parents, college authorities, students and government officials took place to conclude the issue on January 19, 2022. However, they could reach to no conclusion.
• Another meeting was held on January 31, 2022 between the college authorities, parents and students. The authorities issued that the students will have to adhere to the uniform code till the government committee submits its report. The students were allowed to wear hijab in the premises but instructed to remove it inside the classrooms.
• The management of a government college in Kundarpur instructed Muslim girls to discontinue wearing hijab in college according to the new state guidelines. However, when the girls refused to adhere to the guidelines, several Hindu students came to college in saffron-coloured shawls in protest, as per reports.
• MLA Halady Srinivas Shetty reportedly tried to convince the parents of Muslim girls asking them to let the students attend college without hijab but to no avail. According to reports, there are 27 Muslim girls who study in the Kundarpur college.
• In Bhadravathi area of Shivamogga district, students protested demanding the college authorities to ban hijab by wearing saffron-coloured towels in the premises on February 2, 2022.