Hindu outfit seeks probe into conspiracy behind hijab row

The six girls at the PU college for women in Udupi were in touch with CFI through their Twitter accounts, Hindu outfit alleged

Hindu Jagarana Vedike (HJV) on Monday alleged that the Campus Front of India (CFI), Popular Front and other Islamic organisations are behind the hijab controversy that created chaos in the Udupi district and later across Karnataka.

Addressing reporters in Udupi, HJV (south Karnataka) secretary KT Ullas demanded a thorough investigation into the conspiracy behind the hijab issue raked up by these organisations in educational institutions. Ullas said many of the Muslim students were not wearing hijabs in junior colleges till December last year when it was turned into a controversy. He also claimed that the boy students started wearing shawls not at the instance of Hindu outfits, but as a ‘natural reaction.’

The six girls at the PU college for women in Udupi were in touch with CFI through their Twitter accounts, he alleged. If the CFI leaders and students are interrogated, the conspiracy behind the controversy can be unveiled, Ullas said.

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Meanwhile, CFI Udupi district president Asil Akram denied reports that they had skipped a peace meeting held by Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat on Sunday. Akram told reporters that CFI was not invited to the meeting as claimed by the MLA. No information about the meeting was shared with the organisation, he said, adding they would have attended the meeting in the interests of students if invited.

On January 1, 2022, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by CFI in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into the classroom by wearing hijab. This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear hijabs in classes which were not allowed. Till then, students used to wear the hijab to the campus and entered the classroom after removing the scarves, the college principal Rudre Gowda had said.

"The institution did not have any rule on hijab-wearing as such and since no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces," Gowda had said.

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