Schools in Karnataka reopen, important hearing on hijab in court today: 10 points

1. “Schools up to class 10 will reopen from Monday. I have directed (district and police officials) and school administration to hold a meeting of ‘peace committee’. Schools of higher classes and degree colleges will reopen after reviewing the situation. Will open,” Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.

2. Ahead of today’s classes, orders banning large gatherings were announced in several districts, which saw a tense standoff between students protesting the right to wear the hijab and those from right-wing organizations, including those who wear saffron shawls. And brands do scarves.

3. In Mangaluru, prohibitory orders under section 144 are in force at a distance of 200 meters around all high schools in the city limits. In Udupi – where the protests first began – gatherings of five or more people near schools have been banned. District officials told news agency ANI: “Students are coming to schools (and) the situation is peaceful. The district administration is following the orders of the High Court.”

4. At the Mandya school, however, some parents argued that their children should be allowed to wear the hijab, but a teacher refused permission. The students were allowed inside only after removing the hijab. A Class 9 student at a government school in Udupi told NDTV that there were two girls in her class (including myself) who were wearing hijab and both had removed it to attend class.

5. On Sunday, police in Shivamogga – where last week a frenzied mob waving saffron scarves chanted Jai Shri Ram and a student waved a saffron flag on campus – took out a flag march and banned gatherings in or around the high school campus. . This was followed by flag marches last week in three other cities – Udupi, Chitradurga and Doddaballapura.

6. At 2.30 pm, the Karnataka High Court will resume hearing on an important petition by six students who had questioned the ban for the first time in December. Last week, in a controversial interim order, the court ruled that schools and colleges could reopen, but no religious clothing, including the hijab, would be allowed.

7. Asking the students and the public to “maintain the peace”, the court had said: “In order to consider all the petitions, we will allow all students, regardless of their religion or belief, to wear saffron shawls, scarves, hijabs, religious Prohibit the wearing of flags or the like, within the classroom, until further orders…”

8. The order was challenged in the Supreme Court – on the grounds that it violates the constitutional rights of students – but Chief Justice NV Ramana only said: “We will intervene at an appropriate time.” The Chief Justice was adamant, despite being told the “far-reaching implications” of the case.

9. The top court had earlier refused to hear a plea by Fatima Bushra, who had challenged a state order banning the cloth, saying it “disturbs equality, integrity and public order”. Is”. The Chief Justice refused, saying the three-judge High Court bench was still hearing the matter.

10. The protests have grown rapidly in the past few weeks. Last week in Mandya, a young student was surrounded by male assailants waving saffron while shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. The BJP government in Karnataka has largely remained silent as it awaits the court, but has seen protests across the world, with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and French footballer Paul Pogba backing Muslim students.

With inputs from ANI, PTI