An Indian state has shut high schools and colleges after a row over the hijab that has gained international attention after Nobel Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai weighed in.
The government of Karnataka state in southern India took the decision after protests by students over Muslim women wearing headscarves in the classroom escalated into violence.
The state’s high court is set to continue hearing a petition that argues for the Muslim women on Wednesday.
The developments occurred after protests by six teenage students at a government-run college over wearing hijabs spread to other colleges.
Several Hindu students then turned up wearing saffron shawls – the colour seen as a Hindu symbol – to protest against Muslim women wearing hijabs.
On Tuesday, Malala – who was 15 when she survived an attack by the Taliban in Pakistan for speaking up for the right of girls to be educated – called on India’s leaders to do something to “stop the marginalisation of Muslim women”.
“Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying,” the 24-year-old activist tweeted. “Objectification of women persists – for wearing less or more.”
In India, the stand-off has increased fear and anger among minority Muslims, who say the country’s constitution grants them the freedom to wear what they want.
On Tuesday, viral videos showed a Muslim woman being heckled by a mob of young men shouting slogans, and heated arguments between students wearing hijabs and saffron shawls.
In a rare move, the judge hearing the case appealed to students and others to “maintain peace and tranquillity”.
Source: BBC
