Congress MP K Suresh gives adjournment motion notice in LS over hijab row

As the hijab row escalated to reach the Parliament, Congress Lok Sabha MP K Suresh on Wednesday gave adjournment motion notice to discuss the matter and hit out at the Karnataka government stating that the "communalisation of the ongoing crisis by the state government is against the constitution."

In his adjournment notice, Suresh wrote, "The communalisation of the ongoing crisis by the state government is against the Constitution and the government must find ways to resolve the crisis immediately."

Calling the situation panning out in Karnataka following the initiation of the row "dangerous", the Congress MP said that the rights of the Muslim students to wear hijab is being "unilaterally denied".

"The dangerous situation unfolding in Karnataka, where the rights of Muslim students to wear hijab is being unilaterally denied and their rights to freedom of choice and practice of faith are interfered. The colleges forcing Muslim students to choose between hijab and studies is denying the right to education to students and the situation is spiralling out of control to a violent communal conflagration spilling across the country and it can ignite religious animosity between communities," he wrote.

The matter being subjudice, Karnataka High Court's single bench of Justice Krishna Dixit on Wednesday referred petitions challenging the ban on hijab in colleges to a larger bench.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court appealed student community and the public at large to maintain peace and tranquillity while hearing various pleas challenging a ban on hijab in the state.

The Hijab protests in the state began in January this year when some students at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district in Karnataka alleged that they had been barred from attending classes. During the protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for wearing hijab.

Meanwhile, following the hijab row in the state, the Karnataka government on Tuesday declared a three-day holiday in all the universities under the Department of Higher Education and colleges under the department of Collegiate and Technical Education (DCTE).

( With inputs from ANI )