The Hijab and Saffron Shawl row that began in Udupi district has now spread to Vijayapura district. It is the first such incident reported in the region. The incident occurred in two different colleges of the same institution in Indi town. The administration of both the colleges have declared a holiday for PU and degree classes.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Professor S B Jadhav, principal of Shri Shanteshwar Degree College, said that, “A group of students belonging to our college have tried to attend classes wearing saffron shawl. Among them, few were forcing their friends to wear the same shawl. As a precaution and to avoid nuisances within the college premises – the management has suspended classes for all the semesters.”
“We have also brought this to the notice of local authorities including police. We will chair another round of meetings with management and government authorities to discuss the future course of action to avoid such incidents in future. We have asked the students to abide by the rules rolled out by the state government on dress code recently,” said Jadhav.
According to sources, “Around 45 intermediate and 30 degree students had come to college wearing saffron shawls opposing Hijab. The Hindu outfits are suspected to be behind this incident. However, no untoward incident was reported.” As a precaution the police personnel have been deployed in front of both the institutions.