Home Minister defends decision to keep hijab girls out of college, asks cops to keep an eye on religious groups

Bengaluru, Feb 3: Strongly defending the decision of two colleges in Udupi district to be intolerant towards the Muslim girls with headscarves, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra today said that children should neither wear the hijab nor saffron shawls when they go to educational institutions. 

He also he directed the police to “watch” religious outfits in the coastal region where confrontation is brewing. 

“Children don't go to schools to practice their religion. They should go to school thinking they're children of Bharat Mata. Inside a school compound, there should not be hijab or saffron shawls,” Jnanendra told reporters. 

He was reacting to more than 100 Hindu students wearing saffron shawls at a government pre-university college in Kundapur to counter Muslim girls who sported headscarves. 

“There are religious organisations that seem to have different ideas when it comes to India’s unity. So, I have asked the police to watch them,” Jnanendra said. 

For a month now, eight Muslim girls have been protesting for their "right" to attend class wearing headscarves at a government women’s pre-university college in Udupi. Today dozens girl students of Kundapura junior college in Udupi district were barred from entering the campus for wearing hijab. 

“The education minister has already said that there is a prescribed uniform that students should stick to. Students of all religions should sit together and study with the feeling that they’re children of the same mother. There are churches, mosques and temples where religious activities can be followed. But, in a school where an academic atmosphere is needed our children should have the culture of promoting India's unity,” Jnanendra argued.