Hundreds March in Kashmir’s Srinagar in Support of Muslim Karnataka Students
Hundreds of Muslim women took to streets of Srinagar, in Indian controlled Kashmir on Thursday to protests against a hijab ban in the Indian state of Karnataka.
The demonstrators also expressed support for students who were denied entry into school for wearing hijab in Karnataka earlier in the day.
The row began last week when several schools in the southern state of Karnataka denied entry to female Muslim students wearing hijab, citing an Education Ministry order.0 seconds of 1 minute, 54 secondsVolume 90%
The Karnataka High Court, in an interim order, has restrained all students, regardless of their religion or faith, from wearing saffron shawls, scarfs, hijab, religious flags, or the like inside classrooms.
Female Muslim students say wearing hijab is a fundamental right to religion guaranteed by the constitution.
Anger over the ban on hijab in Indian schools has been gaining momentum. Campuses have seen escalating tensions and confrontations over the past few days. Police arrested dozens of student activists after protests erupted on Thursday in New Delhi, challenging the government’s ban on wearing hijab in colleges.
The hijab ban has galvanized public sentiments, with people of all faiths questioning religious freedom and equality in one of the world’s most diversified countries. It has also stoked fears among the Muslim community about increasing persecution under the Hindu-nationalist government.
Opposition parties accuse the BJP government at federal and state levels of discriminating against religious minorities. Critics say Modi’s election in 2014 emboldened hardline extremist groups that view India as a “Hindu nation” and consider its 200-million-strong Muslim minority as a foreign threat.
