The authorities in the southern Indian state of Karnataka ordered the closure of secondary schools for 3 days after protests escalated over the decision to ban the wearing of the headscarf, which fueled the anger of the Muslim minority, and sparked again accusations of persecution of Muslims under the Hindu nationalist government headed by Narendra Modi.
And the protests spread today, Wednesday, to the city of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state (eastern India), where hundreds of students chanted angry slogans and closed roads, in protest against the ban on wearing the headscarf in Karnataka schools.
Likewise, demonstrations took place in the Indian capital, New Delhi, today, Wednesday, in which the demonstrators, both women and men, expressed their rejection of discrimination against Muslims, and affirmed the pride and right of Muslim women to wear the veil, as they put it.
This crisis has erupted since last month when government secondary schools in the coastal city of Udupi in Karnataka state ordered female students not to wear the veil, in a decree that was quickly adopted by other educational institutions in the state.
A mass demonstration in New Delhi to protest against the ban on headscarves in Karnataka schools (Reuters)
"Suddenly they ask us not to wear the hijab, why now?" said Aisha, a student at Mahatma Gandhi University in Udupi. She added that a professor expelled her from her chemistry exam for wearing the hijab.
Tensions have risen in recent days in Udupi and other areas of the Hindu-majority state of Karnataka, where female students wearing saffron shawls - traditionally worn by Hindus - thronged classrooms to show their support for a headscarf ban in their schools.
In demonstrations on Tuesday, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the courtyard of a government school, and police deployed in several schools.
brave girl
A video clip of a group of Hindu students trying to attack a Muslim student at a school in Mandaya, Karnataka, was circulated on social media platforms.
The video showed the student entering the school yard, and upon her arrival, dozens of students supporting the decision to ban the veil gathered around her, and they approached her, chanting the phrase "Long live God Ram", and the girl responded with courage, "God is great."
हिज़ाबी मुस्लिम छात्रा के कॉलेज पहुँचते ही भगवा गमछा डाले छात्रों ने उसे घेरकर एाए 'जय श्री लाम के लि
अकेली मुस्लिम छात्रा ने भी उनसे ना डरते हुए लगाए 'अल्लाहु अकबर' के नारे।
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कर्नाटक PES कॉलेज मंड्या का मामला… pic.twitter.com/FSJnHpk4tt
— Ashraf Hussain (@AshrafFem) February 8, 2022
The school administration later intervened to save the girl and enter her class, and the clip was widely celebrated by activists for the girl's courage in confronting these students.
After the authorities on Tuesday ordered secondary schools to close for three days, state government chief Pasavraj Bomai called for calm, and said, "I appeal to all students, teachers, school administrations and universities to maintain peace and harmony."
On Tuesday, the Karnataka Supreme Court began hearing a petition challenging the legality of the ban, and adjourned the hearing before any decision was made.
On February 5, the state government issued an order obligating all schools to impose school uniforms determined by the departments.
The state's education minister, PC Nagesh, said the school uniform was determined after considering court orders from across the country banning headscarves in educational institutions.
The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party - led by Prime Minister Modi - dominates the Karnataka state government, and many of its members have thrown their weight behind the ban on headscarves in schools.
Critics say Modi's election in 2014 has emboldened hard-line groups that see India as a Hindu national home and seek to undermine its secular foundations at the expense of the 200 million Muslim minority.