Amid ongoing protests by some of the students seeking permission from authorities to wear hijab in classrooms at some colleges in Karnataka, BJP’s head of state Nalin Kumar Kateel said on Saturday that the state government will not “Talibanize” it. education system will allow.
“There is no room for such things (wearing hijab in class). Our government will be strict. People must abide by the rules and regulations of the school. We will not allow Talibanization (of the education system),” he told reporters here.
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Kateel argued that it was not right to bring religion to educational institutions and said that children need education. “There is no room for hijab or anything like that in the schools. Schools are the temples of ‘Sarasvati’ (goddess of knowledge). It is the duty of the students to learn and abide by the rules of the school,” the BJP leader said.
Vijayapura BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said some people deliberately demanded permission to wear hijab in classrooms. “Once that requirement is met, they will ask for permission to wear burqa and then build a mosque in the school,” he claimed.
“The demands will continue. Those who support them are the real traitors.” Yatnal said those behind such movements must be exposed. The MLA suspected some anti-national forces’ involvement in “disturbing” the peace in the state. When asked if Lord Ganesha is worshiped in educational institutions and people who entered schools and universities with vermilion on their foreheads, Yatnal said: “This is India and our country is based on Indian culture. We have already given them Pakistan based on religion so that they can wear hijab.”
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Meanwhile, many students in Kalaburagi staged a demonstration led by Congress MLA Kaneez Fathima. They raised slogans such as ‘We want justice’ and ‘Gundagardi Nahi Chalegi’ (vandalism will not be tolerated).
The MLA said it would raise the matter in the Karnataka assembly and request permission for the hijab in the classrooms. A similar demonstration also took place in Udupi where students came to campus in burqa and asked permission for hijab.
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