Karnataka: In Udupi, peace meet chaired by MLA says hijab okay in institutions with no dress code
Categories: DAILY NEWS
With high schools reopening in Karnataka on Monday, after a five-day break to cool communal tensions over the hijab ban row, the police in Udupi have imposed prohibitory orders near campuses for six days till Saturday in the southern district at the centre of the controversy.The move comes at a time when the state is entering a crucial week in the faceoff, with the Opposition set to question the BJP state government on the issue in the Assembly session starting Monday even as the Karnataka High Court resumes hearings on pleas against the ban. On Sunday evening, a multi-faith peace committee in Udupi headed by the local BJP MLA agreed to ensure that the High Court’s interim order on Friday, asking students not to wear any religious dress to class, will be enforced only in educational institutions that have prescribed uniforms for students — as stated by the court.The High Court had said that its interim order “is confined to…institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code/ uniform”. The peace committee’s decision confirms that students in Udupi are free to wear the hijab in schools and colleges that have no rules on wearing a uniform. Officials said the move will help in reducing tensions over the issue. The state’s Department of Undergraduate Education does not mandate uniforms for its colleges, but some individual government colleges have been following their own rules in prescribing uniforms. Earlier, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that he had instructed district officials, the police and school administrations to conduct “peace committee” meetings over the issue. The Udupi meeting was chaired by MLA Raghupathi Bhat and attended by several parents of students, political and religious leaders, and senior police officers and district officials.“If they (the MLA) and the taluk administration had invited us, we would have attended the meeting for the good of the students,” CFI district chief Aseel Akram said. According to Akram, the SDPI was represented at the meeting. “The organisations that took part in the meeting responded positively to the view that untoward incidents should be avoided over the issue and everyone should wait till the High Court gives a final verdict,” MLA Bhat said.Incidentally, the Government Girls Pre-University College in Udupi, where the row first broke out when a group of eight Muslim girl students were kept out of classrooms for wearing the hijab, has a uniform prescribed for students. “Although the issue is in the Karnataka High Court, our party is planning to question the BJP government’s failure in maintaining law and order during the hijab-saffron shawl row in college campuses across the state. We will also demand an explanation from the government on the declaration of holidays for colleges till February 16,” “A decision regarding the reopening of pre-university and degree colleges will be taken after assessing the situation. Trouble-makers will face legal action as schools up to Class 10 are reopening from Monday. The students must focus on the examinations scheduled in March, other things will be taken care of by investigative agencies,” he said. “I have asked the state’s Education Minister to submit a report after examining the situation regarding the reopening of pre-university and degree colleges, based on which a meeting will be held and a decision taken,” Bommai said.