The state of Karnataka has been shaken for several weeks by a violent battle around the wearing of the veil at school. The case is not unrelated to the ongoing regional elections in five Indian states. She is waved like a scarecrow by Hindu nationalist circles.
The dispute began in late December at a university in the southern state of the country, when eight 16-year-old Muslim girls were banned from entering an establishment in the district of Udupi, a city located by the sea. Oman, for refusing to remove their headscarves, which had been permitted until then. To justify its ban, the management argued the adoption of a dress code, a decision opposed by Muslim families, who claim the right to freedom of religion.
The story quickly spread on the Web and in the press. Other schools began enforcing a similar ban on hijabs, leading to further protests and counter-protests. To protest against the wearing of the headscarf, Hindu students began brandishing saffron scarves, the color of the nationalists, and chanting religious songs.
Laboratory of “Hinduity”
On February 4, the government of Karnataka, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, supported the ban, adding fuel to the fire. BJP regional leader Nalin Kumar Kateel said in particular that banning the hijab would prevent classrooms from becoming similar to those of the regime. “Taliban”. The situation has become so tense that the authorities have decided to temporarily close schools, before reopening them under police surveillance.
The young Muslim students have appealed to the High Court of Karnataka, which must rule on the ban on the wearing of the veil. The voltage does not drop. On Saturday February 19, around 60 female students were suspended in Shivamogga district after refusing to remove their headscarves.
This is not the first time that this state has attacked religious minorities. The regional government passed an anti-conversion law in December 2021 that provides for a ten-year prison sentence for those found guilty of forced conversions. These provisions target the Christian community, accused of converting Hindus, and were adopted as Karnataka recorded a series of attacks on churches. Another law prohibits, since February 2021, the slaughter of cows, bulls and buffaloes and targets the Muslim community. Karnataka is also a laboratory of hindutva, a concept of “Hinduism” dear to the nationalists of the BJP, and radical Hindu organizations have been operating there for about ten years.
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