The debate over the wearing of hijab by female Muslim students, in complete disregard for existing school uniform rules, has now reached the northeastern State of Tripura.
A controversy broke out at the government-run Koroimura Higher Secondary School in the Sepahijala district of Tripura recently after the female Muslim students flouted school norms and attended classes in hijab.
On Thursday (August 3), a group of Hindu boys wore saffron-coloured kurta to the school in protest. The headmaster of the Koroimura Higher Secondary School, Priyatosh Nandi, intervened in the matter and urged all students to wear school uniforms irrespective of religion.
He told the media, “After a meeting with teachers, I recently directed all students to attend school wearing proper uniform. However, girl students from the minority community said they cannot follow this directive as wearing hijab is a religious belief.”
When Nandi told the Hindu students to refrain from wearing saffron-coloured kurta in school, they emphasised that rules must apply uniformly to everyone. “…These students asserted they will wear school uniform provided all the students come to the institute in proper school uniform,” he informed.
In the meantime, a 10th Std Muslim student, studying at Higher Secondary School, vandalised the room of the headmaster in ‘protest’ along with his other accomplice.
When he stepped out of the school, he was thrashed by a group of people. The accused, who is said to be a resident of Prabhurampur, was admitted to a nearby health centre. The development was confirmed by Jyotishman Das, the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police (Law & Order).
The situation in the area is said to be under control. The Sepahijala police have dismissed claims of communal attack on the Muslim student and warned against rumour-mongering on social media.
“A specific case in this regard has been registered and an investigation is in progress. It is clarified that the incident is in no way related to any religious issue,” it said in a statement.
Hijab row in Karnataka
In February 2022, some Muslim students from a PU College in Udupi filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court to allow them to attend classes wearing a Hijab. They were denied entry into classes after the college management made it clear that the hijab was not part of the uniform.
Following that, the ‘students’ launched protests while being dressed in burqas. They had started wearing hijab and burqa to their school, college in defiance of the uniform rules since December 2021 after coming in touch with the radical outfit, Campus Front of India (CFI).
On March 15, 2022, the Karnataka High Court held that the Hijab is not an essential practice in Islam and that uniform is a reasonable restriction on the Right to Religion.
