Hijab row: Karnataka Schools reopen amidst peaceful atmosphere

As section 144 of CrPC has been clamped in the 200-meter radius of the schools in Udupi, police personnel kept a strict vigil.
Policemen were deputed near the private school at Chandralayout in Bengaluru where the teacher allegedly had made derogatory comments against minority students. | Shriram BN
Policemen were deputed near the private school at Chandralayout in Bengaluru where the teacher allegedly had made derogatory comments against minority students. | Shriram BN

UDUPI: After the court's intervention and the state government's step to soothe the tense atmosphere in the campuses of educational institutions due to hijab row last week, schools reopening in Udupi district was incident-free on Monday.

At Women's Government PU College, Udupi where hijab row had first began, the high school section students arrived on Monday. The girls who wore hijab till the campus were also set to remove it and go inside the classrooms, the practice which they followed in the past too.

As section 144 of CrPC has been clamped in the 200-meter radius of the schools, police personnel kept a strict vigil. No assembly of more than five persons was allowed as per the prohibitory orders passed by the district magistrate- (DC) Kurma Rao.

At Government PU College in Kundapur, high school section students arrived on Monday. As here hijab were allowed inside the classrooms in the past too, same practice was followed by students as per the court's order on maintaining status quo.

A police officer in Kundapur speaking to reporters said that investigation is still on to know who instigated the controversy and fuelled it further to dent the communal harmony in the campuses.

Examinations scheduled for the day are also going on in the institutions.

Police personnel have been posted in Udupi town and near the schools to maintain law and order and to avoid any untoward incident.

The Udupi district administration has imposed Section 144 of CrPC around 200-metre radius of all high schools in the district from Monday till February 19 to maintain peace.

Udupi Tahsildar Pradeep Kurudekar, who visited a few schools, said Muslim students are abiding by the High Court's interim order by removing hijabs before entering classes.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Udupi Pejawar mutt chief Swami Vishwaprasanna Teertha appealed to all sections to avoid chaos and maintain peace.

The Karnataka High Court, in its interim order pending consideration of all petitions related to the Hijab row, had earlier requested the state government to reopen educational institutions and restrained all the students from wearing saffron shawls, scarves, Hijab and any religious flag within the classroom.

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