Hijab Row Updates: How Will Teachers Know Students are Learning if They Wear Hijab, Wonders Assam CM; Stir in Kolkata, Malegaon

Hijab Row News LIVE Updates: Refusing to take up the matter for urgent hearing on Monday, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Friday asked petitioners to “not spread things to larger level” as the Supreme Court is “watching the matter closely”. The top court said that it will only hear at an appropriate time.

Amid the Hijab row in Karnataka, Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Friday said that invaders introduced veil in North India, but now women don’t observe them. “In the past, veil in North India was due to invaders. But now women in north India women don’t put up veils as the time changed so do the customs. Today, religion is used to divide society and country. Though religion is not for dividing, but for uniting. Dress codes are related to the institutions. If someone doesn’t like the uniform then they should leave the institution, they should follow the discipline and should not try to break the discipline, as Discipline is the foundation of institutions,” he said.

The Karnataka government late on Thursday decided to resume classes for high school students from next week, even as Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated the High Court has said students should not wear religious dress to colleges. The government’s decision to resume classes up to Standard X from February 14 and for Pre-University and Degree Colleges thereafter, came at a meeting chaired by the chief minister with his cabinet colleagues holding the Home, Primary and Secondary Education and Higher Education portfolios, and senior officials.

“The three-judge bench (of the Karnataka High Court) has said that they will hear the case on a day-to-day basis and that everyone should maintain peace, and not to wear religious dress at colleges until then (order). They have also given instruction for reopening of educational institutions,” Bommai said. Speaking to reporters here, he said, discussions were held at the meeting aimed at establishing peace at school and college campuses and creating an atmosphere for students to study together, and to maintain law and order.

“It has been decided that high school classes up to class 10 will start functioning from Monday and in the second stage PUC and degree colleges will start, the dates will be announced in the due course,” he said. The Karnataka government announced a three-day holiday on Tuesday in view of violence and tension in some schools and colleges owing to the Hijab (Islamic head scarves) versus saffron scarves face-off.

The full bench of the Karnataka High Court hearing the Hijab ban case on Thursday posted the matter for February 14. The three-judge full bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice J M Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit was formed on Wednesday to hear the petitions by the Muslim girl students challenging the ban on Hijab.

The bench was constituted after the single judge, Justice Dixit referred the matter to the CJ with a view that a larger bench should hear the matter. The full bench also said it wants the matter to be resolved at the earliest but till that time peace and tranquility is to be maintained.

Earlier, the Chief Justice asked the media to refrain from reporting the observations made by the bench during the course of hearing. The Hijab row started in December end when a few students started coming to the government pre-university college in Udupi wearing Hijab. Protesting against it, some Hindu students turned up wearing saffron scarves. The row spread to other educational institutions in different parts of the State, and the protests took a violent turn at some place earlier this week, prompting the government on Tuesday to declare three days holiday for the institutions.

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