Karnataka hijab row: Heckled by group in saffron scarves, burqa-clad student stands her ground

A burqa-clad student at a pre-university college in Karnataka’s Mandya district was allegedly heckled by a group on Tuesday, as clashes over the hijab erupted across the state.

The altercation was videotaped, and the video has since gone viral on social media and been broadcast on several television news channels. In the alleged video, the girl is seen walking towards the college after parking her two-wheeler when a procession of saffron-scarfed students charge towards her, yelling “Jai Shri Ram.” She screams “Allah hu Akbar” back at them, unfazed.

Later, the girl appears to be escorted away from the protesters by college officials.

“Who gave them the right to ask me to take off my burqa?” she screams.

Later, speaking to NDTV, the second-year Commerce student said, “I was not worried. When I entered the college they were not allowing me just because I was wearing the burqa.”

“They started shouting Jai Shri Ram. So I started screaming Allah hu Akbar. The principal and lecturers supported and protected me,” the student, identified by the channel as Muskan, added.

The incident occurred on a day when there were clashes across the state’s educational institutions over the hijab debate. Six Muslim girls at a government pre-university college in Udupi were denied entry to classrooms after they began wearing headscarves in January, igniting the hijab debate.

The issue has since escalated, with girls wearing hijabs, students wearing saffron scarves, and Dalit students wearing blue scarves in solidarity with the hijab-wearing girls protesting at several other high schools. So far, seven schools in Udupi, including two private schools, have reported protests.

At least five districts have reported incidents similar to this one.

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