Nearly 500 students from Aliah University in Kolkata gathered in the Park Circus area on Wednesday, with many women wearing hijabs amid a row over headscarves in Karnataka. The participants, who carried the national flag, traveled around Entally and Park Circus before returning to their campus.
“As citizens of India, we have the right to decide what we wear and the right to follow our own religious customs, read signs in Bengali, English and Hindi held by the students, referring to the controversial developments in the southern state about wearing hijab . Down with right-wing forces that want us to go back to the Middle Ages,” read texts on other posters.
Read|Hijab Row: Piety and modesty are not the same
Incidents of stone pelting and the use of violence were reported in Karnataka on Tuesday as the hijab ban escalated and student protests spread to more colleges, prompting the state government to cancel a three-day vacation for all educational institutions. to announce.
The hijab controversy first erupted in January at a government PU college in Udupi, where six students attending classes wearing headscarves in violation of established dress codes were asked to leave campus. The feud has spread to various parts of the state, with Hindu students responding by showing up in saffron shawls. It has also taken on a political hue, as the ruling BJP has been a strong supporter of the uniform-related rules enforced by educational institutions, calling the headscarf a religious symbol, while the opposition congress has spoken out in support of Muslim girls.
There was no untoward incident as the rally in Kolkata covered a distance of about 2 km, a police officer said. We have no say in the developments taking place off campus,” said a varsity spokesperson.
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