Amid the hijab row in Karnataka, security forces took out a route march in Udupi on Friday, ahead of the opening of schools on Monday.
According to media reports, the Karnataka Police and paramilitary forces took out the march in Udupi as the district was the centre of protests over Muslim students wearing hijab in educational institutions.
The New Indian Express reported that higher officials of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) too have arrived in Udupi to take stock of the situation.
Meanwhile, a few faculty members of IIM Bangalore made an appeal to National Commission for Women (NCW) to protect the rights of Muslim girl students who are allegedly being intimidated in Karnataka. In their petition to the NCW, the faculty members said, “Women across all religions face patriarchal restrictions of one kind or the other. Certainly, we cannot condone such practices and we must work with men, women, and religious leaders to bring about change. But to single out one religious practice is not acceptable."
"The atmosphere of fear and intimidation will make parents hesitate to send daughters to schools and colleges. ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ will be an abject failure, not just for Muslim girls, but for girls across all communities,” the petition to NCW read.
Students of Azim Premji University in Bengaluru came out with a statement saying we should remember that it is our Constitutional duty as citizens to promote harmony and respect our composite culture.
“As students of a progressive country and the world’s largest democracy, we believe no institution should impose its belief on what one should wear, eat or say!," the statement read.
Protests for and against the hijab had intensified in parts of Karnataka and turned violent in some places on Tuesday after the state government last week issued an order making uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students in schools and pre-university colleges.
On Friday, the Karnataka High Court, in its interim order pending considerations of all petitions related to the Hijab row, requested the state government to reopen educational institutions and restrained all the students from wearing saffron shawls, scarves, hijab and any religious flag within classrooms.
The government, on Thursday, had decided to resume classes for high school students up to class X from Monday, and for pre-university and degree colleges thereafter.
