Hijab Row: Tension in India's Karnataka After Student Shares Pakistani Flag on WhatsApp Group
13:28 GMT 09.03.2022 (Updated: 10:42 GMT 19.07.2022)
© AP Photo / Rafiq MaqboolIndian Muslim women shout slogans against banning Muslim girls wearing hijab from attending classes at some schools in the southern Indian state of Karnataka during a protest in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022.
![Indian Muslim women shout slogans against banning Muslim girls wearing hijab from attending classes at some schools in the southern Indian state of Karnataka during a protest in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. Indian Muslim women shout slogans against banning Muslim girls wearing hijab from attending classes at some schools in the southern Indian state of Karnataka during a protest in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 09.03.2022](https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/03/09/1093719812_0:172:3028:1875_1920x0_80_0_0_9f1981a18c8823719df41ed520439e98.jpg)
© AP Photo / Rafiq Maqbool
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India is home to about 200 million Muslims, many of whom now fear that the ban on Hijabs in schools or on the premises of educational institutions might violate their religious freedom, which is guaranteed under India's constitution.
Tension has gripped Shivamogga District of India's Karnataka state after a college student shared a photo of a Pakistani flag in a WhatsApp group amid an ongoing Hijab row in educational institutions.
According to an Indian media report, a Muslim girl student from Sahyadri Science College posted a message in a WhatsApp group, meant for online classes, saying that wearing the Hijab was her right.
Soon, it triggered a heated debate in the group and one of the students posted a pic of India's national flag in the group. In response, a Pakistani flag was posted.
As the nations of India and Pakistan have extremely poor relations, raising any symbols in India depicting Pakistan is considered unpatriotic and often invites sedition charges.
India and Pakistan had a shared history before they became independent from the UK in 1947. The point of contention of both nations is the Jammu and Kashmir region. It is considered a disputed territory, as both the countries have laid claim to the region. Currently, most of Kashmir is governed by the Indian government. India and Pakistan have fought four wars — in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999 to gain control over the region. India accuses Pakistan of escalating violence in Kashmir.
Following the incident, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) , the student wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent organisation of federally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has sought the dismissal of the student from the college.
The ABVP-backed students also staged a protest on Tuesday, demanding that the student be tried for sedition, and warned college authorities that they would boycott the classes if management failed to take action against the student.
The Shivamogga and Udupi Districts have witnessed an increase in protests since a group of Hijab-wearing Muslim girls were prevented from entering their classroom in Udupi in January.
As other government-run educational institutes in the state also banned Hijab-clad students from entering their classrooms, the protest sparked a major row across the state.
In February, following large scale violence and protests between Hindu and Muslim student groups, the BJP-led Karnataka government imposed a curfew for seven days and closed all the campuses till 16 February in Shivamogga.
The issue has also been raised in the Karnataka High Court, which has yet to make any ruling on the subject after a few hearings. On 10 February, the court had restrained students from wearing "religious clothes", including the hijab, following which Muslim women continued their protests outside the campus.
Since then Muslim students have protested outside their respective campuses, saying they cannot remove their hijabs and will boycott the classes till the court's ruling in the matter.
According to the protesting students, if they are forced to remove their hijab, it would violate their religious freedom.
Students protest outside the DC's office in Shivmogga demanding they be allowed to write exams & enter classrooms wearing hijab. #Hijab #KarnatakaHijabRow #HijabRow #HijabisOurRight pic.twitter.com/8v1vGekcHw
— Ubaidullah Sirgod 🗨️ (@UbaidullahSIRGD) March 9, 2022
Protest against hijab
— Mohd Abdullah Omer (@AbdullahOmer01) March 9, 2022
In Shimoga #karnataka#Hijab
✊ pic.twitter.com/hn7onhHInp