Karnataka hijab row: Cops warn of action as protests continue
Categories: DAILY NEWS
Chaos and confusion prevailed in several preuniversity colleges in Karnataka on Thursday after several Muslim students wearing of hijab or headscarves continued to be denied entry into the campuses.Multiple protests were held across colleges in the districts of Chikmagalur, Udupi, Shivamogga, Gadag and Chitradurga, among others, even as police threatened to book a section of agitating students for wrongful restraint and get them debarred from their college. In Hassan district, students of LV Polytechnic college blocked roads after they were reportedly denied entry to the premises over their headscarves.“We will file a case against all of you,” Hassan city deputy superintendent of police Uday Bhaskar told students of LV Polytechnic college, as he directed his subordinates to charge the students under section 341 of Indian Penal Code, which prescribes punishment for wrongful restraint.“Send a report to the principal and get them debarred,” he was heard saying in Kannada. Undeterred by the warning, the students said they were ready to face any action. “Why should we block the road if we are allowed inside the college,” one of them was heard saying at the protest site.The officer said the situation was gradually turning tense and if the protests were allowed to continue, it may lead to law-and-order troubles or even “riots”. The protesting students are being “handled” accordingly, he added. “The children, the way they were reacting to any of the government’s advisories, directions from the principal, it was very different. They hold mobile phones in their hand and then they get directions from somewhere. Whatever they speak and whatever the other person is conversing, they keep it live (on). They are being handled by somebody. That was observed yesterday,” the DSP said, refusing to provide further details.After parents and students of Vijaya Institute of Para Medical Sciences got into an argument with the police outside the campus, Boralingaiah said a few “outsiders” had accompanied them. “A few people who were not related (to the college) were here. Our personnel moved them away since they cannot crowd around here. The school will sort this out. The college administration will take action on the matter.”“It was a tense atmosphere and they cannot crowd near the college, so we took this action,” he added.