BAGALKOT: Tension prevailed at the Government Pre-University College at Banahatti town in Bagalkot district after students sporting saffron stoles and a group of protesting men pelted stones at each other in the presence of police personnel. A war of words between the two groups soon escalated into violence which left a few students and some of the protesters with minor injuries.
The local police have registered a suo-motu case against the stone pelters from both sides and arrested at least 18 people. An eyewitness said, “The students wearing saffron stoles locked the college gate when a few Muslim girls clad in burqa and hijab arrived at the college. They said that they would open the college gate only if the girls come without the hijab and burqa. As news spread, hundreds of people, including the girl’s parents, gathered outside the college and staged a protest raising slogans against the college and the government.” The police had to resort to lathi-charge after both groups failed to disperse.
Speaking to TNIE, SP Lokesh Jagalasar said, “We have booked cases against the stone pelters from both sides. Technical evidence will be collected before initiating action. There is no question of sparing anyone. We have deployed enough police personnel in and round the college as a precaution.”
Meanwhile, for the second consecutive day, several students continued to boycott classes over the hijab and saffron stole row in Bagalkot and Vijayapura. Protests erupted in as many as four PU colleges at different places in Vijayapura district and two colleges in Bagalkot district.