Petitioner in hijab case alleges her brother was attacked by mob

Udupi, Feb 22: One of the petitioners in the Hijab case in the Karnataka High Court, Hazra Shifa, has alleged that a mob attacked her brother, and “our property was ruined”. Reports said the window glasses of the family-run restaurant in nearby Malpe was broken in the incident on Monday night.

A case has been registered at Malpe police station, and the police are conducting an investigation. “My brother was brutally attacked by a mob. Just because I continue to stand for My #Hijab which is MY RIGHT. Our property was ruined as well. Why?? Can’t I demand my right? Who will be their next victim? I demand action to be taken against the Sangh Parivar goons,” Shifa tweeted. According to Shifa, her 20-year-old brother — Saif — is admitted to Hitech Hospital, Udupi.

The full bench of the Karnataka High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice J M Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit is hearing the case where some Muslim girls are demanding that they be allowed to be wear hijab in classrooms. On January one, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by the Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into classrooms wearing hijab. This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear hijab in classes which was not allowed. Till then, students used to wear the headscarf to the campus, but entered the classroom after removing it, college principal Rudre Gowda had said.

“The institution did not have any rule on hijab-wearing as such and since no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces,” Gowda had said. PTI