Senior Kannada writers and citizens’ group Bahutva Karnataka have written open letters to all stakeholders and the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, resepectively, on the hijab controversy.
In their letter to parents, principals, teachers, and other stakeholders, Kannada writers have appealed for a consensus to ensure that girl students are not denied their right to education. Signatories, including Baragur Ramachandrappa, K. Marulasiddappa, and Boluvaru Mohammad Kunhi, expressed concern that students have become the pawns of “communal forces on either side”.
“We need to act in such a way that the situation is not misused by political vested interests,” they said. “The right to education should never be hampered in the name of uniform. It should be made possible to retain uniforms and find an amicable solution for the girl students to get their education. It is their constitutional right and this must be our only focus,” the letter stated.
Meanwhile, Bahutva Karnataka, a coalition of progressive forces, wrote an open letter to Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka Ritu Raj Awasthi on the “wrongful interpretation” of the interim order of the court and sought his immediate intervention. The letter signed by 917 people, including several lawyers, said: “The order has been construed as an effective ban on the hijab across the State in all educational institutions. It has been heard that oral instructions have been issued by district administrations forbidding the hijab in all government and aided schools and colleges. News channels are taking on the mandate to ‘implement’ your order and are entering classrooms, repeatedly flashing faces of minor students wearing the hijab stating that the minor students do not ‘care’ about the interim order. Thereby, creating a situation of fear and coercion in an already tense atmosphere.”------ O
A delegation of advocates, students, and women’s rights activists also met the Director of the Department of Pre-University Education and brought to his notice that several PU colleges were turning away Muslim girl students in violation of the interim order. While the interim order applies only to colleges where the College Development Committees have prescribed a uniform, and not to colleges that do not have one or where hijab was being previously worn. The Director assured clarity and action,” said a statement from the delegation. ---
The delegation said the interim order and its faulty implementation were coming in the way of academics as examinations are under way. Students are being prevented from taking the exam if they are wearing headscarves, said the delegation. They demanded that students be allowed to answer the papers or that exams be postponed till the final verdict in the High Court.
