UDUPI: Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat, president of the college development committee at the Women’s Government PU College where the hijab row first started, has sought a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NAI) into the controversy.
‘’Earlier we thought that only the Campus Front of India was behind the controversy, but now it is clear that the Congress is also involved,” he told reporters on Friday. He said this was not a plot cooked up by the students who are demanding to wear the hijab, but that of the CFI.
“I have written to Home Minister Araga Jnanendra and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai asking them to hand over the hijab case to the NIA. I am sure it is a well-strategised plot. I fear a threat to the nation from this hijab row. So, a detailed probe should be conducted by the NIA,” he said.
The MLA said the District Muslim Okkuta has passed a resolution stating that hijab should be allowed in classroom. That may be their demand and they have the right to demand this. Muslim leaders of the District Muslim Okkuta never instigated the case. “The Muslims of Udupi district want to live peacefully, but outsiders are provoking and fuelling the controversy,” he added.
Further, in a series of tweets on Friday, Bhat said the controversy is a result of CFI “instilling a sense of fanaticism” among girl students and making them demand hijab in the classroom. “This is a deliberate move,” he said.
