Muslim organisations in Karnataka announced a ‘bandh’ in the state on Thursday, March 17, to register their protest against the verdict of the state’s high court on the hijab row, following which a number of businesses remained shut in various districts of the state.
The HC on Tuesday pronounced its judgment on the row upholding the hijab ban of the BJP led government and said that wearing of hijab is not an essential religious practice.
A large number of Muslim-owned shops and establishments remained closed across the state on Thursday in support of the call for a state-wide bandh. The bandh is in protest against the HC’s verdict banning the donning of hijab within educational institutions, dismissing all petitions by students, over the same.
Supported by hundreds of organizations across the state including the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Campus Front of India (CFI), the Ameer-E-Shariat of Karnataka, Maulana Sagir Ahmad Khan Rashadi on Wednesday appealed to the Muslim community of the state to support the bandh.
A number of businesses in districts of the state remained closed, including Mysore District, Dakshin Kannada, Kodagu district, Uttara Kannada District, Gadag, Bagalkot, Mandya, Kolar, Raichur Rural, Yadgir District, Udupi District, Shimoga District, Bidar District, Gulbarga Ramnagar, Tumkur District, Haveri District and parts of Bangalore including Neelsandra, KR Market, Shivaji Nagar, Hoskote, in a protest against the HC’s judgment, in solidarity with the hijabi students.
The hijab row:
The hijab controversy erupted and has been raging since January, after students of a pre-university college in Karnataka’s Udupi were prohibited from wearing headscarves (hijab), as part of their religious obligation, in the college premises. The issue blew up after Hindu students turned up to their colleges wearing saffron scarves in a protest against hijab Muslims being allowed to wear headscarves.
The state was forced to form a committee to decide over the issue and prohibited the students from wearing any religious garment, including the hijab until a decision is reached.
However, a number of protests by saffron-clad students and Muslims around the state forced the state to shut down schools and colleges for a few days.
Educational institutions that were shut down by the state were directed to reopen, ensuring that the state’s diktat, which prevents any religious garment from being worn to the institutions, is strictly adhered to.
