According to media reports, a court is considering a recent ban on schoolgirls wearing hijab by Karnataka authorities.
The latest controversy concerns India’s Muslim minority, which makes up about 13 percent of the Hindu-majority country’s 1.3 billion population.
Female students in green uniforms, including some hijab-wearing girls, were seen entering Government Girls Senior School PU in Adopi district today, where the protest had started this month.
Male and female police officers were on guard.
Despite a Karnataka High Court order last week banning schools from wearing religious attire in classrooms until further notice, all female students, including hijab-wearing girls, were allowed to come to school today.
The court will hear further arguments on Wednesday (today).
Talking to ANI, senior district official Karma Rao M said that the decision of the court was being discussed in the community.
“We have met with all religious leaders and various stakeholders on the implementation of the court’s interim order,” he said.
The southern state of Karnataka is ruled by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has been embroiled in controversy during several important state assembly election campaigns this year.
Karnataka’s state elections will be held next year while India’s next general elections will be held in May 2024.
Muslim families in Karnataka say the ban on the hijab is walling off the Muslim community, with some schools refusing to allow girls and women wearing the hijab to enter.
Some Muslim students and parents protested against the ban on hijab, in response to which Hindu students protested by wearing saffron colored scarves around their necks, which are usually worn by Hindus.
Student Afra Ajmal Asabi while talking about the ban on hijab told reporters that it is very unfair, we have always attended classes wearing hijab.
Junior and middle schools, which were closed by authorities due to protests in the state, were reopened on Monday.