BELAGAVI: A controversy over hijab at Vijaya Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Belagavi, continues unabated despite attempts being made by the police and district administration to put an end to it.
For the past three days, several girls from the institute have been arriving on campus wearing hijabs and burqas even as the college management insisted that they remove their headcovers before entering classrooms.
As the hijab controversy began worsening at the institute, the Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi has asked the college management to close the institute until the situation returns to normalcy. The management decided to announce an indefinite holiday to the institute after a group of girls arrived at the college again wearing hijabs and burqa, unwilling to follow the guidelines issued by the institute on Saturday. The parents of several girls have been in support of their wards and insisted that the college management allow hijabs inside classrooms.
Two days ago, the Belagavi police had to take six persons into custody when they tried to exert pressure on the college management and police to allow the hijab-clad girls inside classrooms. Belagavi police commissioner Boralingaiah said a group of youth who were in support of the girls wearing hijabs was creating a disturbance on campus and that was why they had to be taken into preventive custody. He said all of them were released later.