Hindu youth harass hijab-clad Muslim students in Mangalore

Mangalore: As Karnataka continues to be engulfed in the hijab row, a few female Muslim students were harassed by Hindu youth, on Thursday, after they appeared for exams at Government First Grade College, Mangalore, wearing a dupatta.

Although the principal of the college had allowed the students to take the exams in a dupatta without pinning it like a hijab, a group of Hindu youth, allegedly belonging to right-wing organizations, harassed the girls.

The video of the incident was shared on Twitter alongside the caption, “#Muslim students who wrote exams wearing a dupatta & not pinning it like #Hijabrow were harassed by students belonging to right wing orgns in #Mangalore at Govt First grade college. Principal had granted them permission inform students. Cops intervened & controlled the situation.”

A few youths can be seen heckling the girls inside the premises of the college. It is to be noted that the Karnataka high court in its recent interim order, upheld the state’s diktat and asked students to follow dress codes (ie without the hijab) until a proper judgement was pronounced. As of the time of writing this article, the court has reserved its judgement.

The Hijab Row:

The row erupted towards the end of last year after Muslim students of Udupi Government Pre-University College were prohibited from attending classes wearing hijab.

Later, the students went on protest refusing to attend classes without hijab. The issue became a controversy and spread to other districts, leading to tension and even violence, in some parts of the state.