K'taka: Udupi College Development Panel Vice President alleges girls involved in hijab row received CFI training

Amid the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka, the vice president of the School Development Management Committee (SDMC) in Udupi, Yashpal Suvarna alleged that the girls wearing hijabs are innocent and have been trained by the "Campus front of India" after which they started misbehaving with the teachers.

Speaking to ANI, Suvarna said, "Our government college girls who are making allegations against the teachers and the administration started disrespecting and misbehaving with teachers after the provocation of CFI and other such Muslim organisations. The girls involved in the Hijab issue are innocent. They are being trained in a private place by Campus Front of India which changed them."

The vice-principal further said that the girls wore school uniforms inside the classroom earlier and sat with other students in the class, however, they started demanding to wear hijab since November 2021.

"Those four Muslim girls who are making allegations against us started doing such activities from last November 2021. Before that, these same girls used to come and sit in the classes in uniforms without hijab along with other students in the same classes," he said.

"The girls started speaking in singular and calling in the singular to the teachers and one of the teachers went and cried in front of the committee," the vice-principal added.

Suvarna further said that the changes started taking place after the provocation by the CFI.

"It is clear and evident that all these changes in these innocent girls started after the provocation by the Campus Front of India, PFI, and other such organisations," he said.

In the wake of the controversy over wearing hijab, the Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Department on Saturday said classes for pre-university students have been suspended in the state from February 12 to 15.

Protests had intensified in several parts of Karnataka when some students alleged that they had been barred from attending classes wearing hijab (a headscarf worn by Muslim women) while others protested against wearing the hijab.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear urgent pleas relating to the hijab row in Karnataka and said it is "watching" what's happening in the state and in hearing before the High Court.

( With inputs from ANI )