Karnataka HC has asked media not to report any oral observations and wait for the final orders in the ongoing Hijab controversy. Police have been directed to ensure law & order while maintaining extreme restraint in dealing with students. Students shouldn't fall prey to communal elements who are hell-bent on making the hijab issue a tool to disturb communal harmony, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said.
Chief Justice of Karnataka HC Ritu Raj Awasthi on Wednesday constituted a bench, comprising himself, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi. The bench is now hearing the Karnataka hijab row case. After protests in Bagalkot turned violent and section 144 was imposed in Shivamogga as hijab-versus-saffron scarves protests escalated, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai ordered schools and colleges to be shut for three days.The case had been filed by a group of Muslim girls studying in government colleges in the Udupi district against a ban on wearing hijabs in classrooms.Muslim girls at a government school in the state were recently denied entry into the classroom for wearing headscarves, which authorities claim is not allowed. These women have been protesting against the move, saying they should not be denied an education for their choice of clothes.