Amid the hijab controversy in Karnataka, which has spread like wildfire in most parts of the country, schools reopened today in Udupi after a turmoil and gap of a few days.
Students arrived to attend classes after a break on Wednesday at Government PU College for girls in Udupi, the epicenter of the hijab controversy. But this time Muslim students in students were not alone. Some students arrived with their parents and some hand-in-hand with their Hindu friends who escorted them inside the college.
The picture of some high school girls walking hand-in-hand with their Muslim friends in hijab is now going viral and hailed as the essence of the country amid the unrelenting row.?
At Mandya Government College for Women, in Mandya, many Muslim students who arrived wearing hijab and burkha removed them before entering the classroom. With no lady's room available outside, they removed Hibaj and Burkha in public. For many, their Hindu friends helped in this task. Tight police security was arranged to avert any untoward incident. Students arrived in large numbers to attend offline classes as the examinations are fast approaching.?
Similar scenes were seen at other schools where two high school girls, one with bindi and tilak, another one with hijab, holding hand in hand, arrived at school at Government PU College and High School for Girls at Udupi on Monday, as high schools opened after closing for four days.
Similar pictures were shared by many political leaders and activists showing the communal harmony that exists despite hate and violence.
More than 700 people, including 500 lawyers, two former High Court judges and Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission former chairman Dr C S Dwarakanath, have written an open letter amid the hijab controversy.
The signatories to the letter expressed concern over the recent Karnataka High Court’s interim order, stating that it has led to many instances of Muslim women and girls facing public humiliation.
“Students who profess the Hindu faith wear different markers of their faith to school every day, including bindi, tilak, vibuthi. However, these markers have never evoked a reaction similar to what we see against Muslim students today,” said the signatories.
“We are deeply concerned with and strongly condemn the violation of constitutional rights of young Muslim women who have been denied entry into educational spaces due to their wearing a hijab. We are equally concerned by the interim order of the Hon’ble Karnataka High Court restraining ‘students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing saffron shawls (bhagwa), scarves, hijab, religious flags or the like within the classroom’,” the signatories noted.
They noted that the “fundamental right to education is a well-established aspect of the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution”.
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