Who is next, asks Karnataka girl who opposed hijab ban after attack on brother
According to the police complaint, a group of people came to the restaurant owned by the girl’s father in Udupi’s Malpe on Monday night and struck up a conversation with the girl’s brother before assaulting him.
BENGALURU: A Karnataka student who approached the high court against the ban on hijab in educational institutions has alleged that her 20-year-old brother was assaulted and her father’s restaurant in Udupi vandalised on Monday night.
“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 ,” the girl tweeted.
She was among the first group of students to protest the decision by Udupi Pre-University Girl’s College not to allow the hijab, filed the first petition against the ban, and did not appear for the exams in view of the ban on hijab.
On Tuesday, the girl tweeted that a first information report (FIR) has been filed for the assault and demanded that the assaulters be “held accountable” and arrested immediately.
According to the complaint, several people surrounded the restaurant at around closing time and struck up a conversation with the girl’s brother. Soon after the group turned violent and began attacking him. The gang also broke the windowpanes of the restaurant in Udupi’s Malpe.
Masood Manna, who is with the Campus Front of India (CFI), a student group associated with the Popular Front of India (PFI), claimed in a tweet that a group of 150 people attacked the girl’s brother. A police officer, however, said this number was exaggerated.
The attack comes nearly 10 days after parents of the six Muslim girl students, who were the first to oppose the ban on hijab, filed a police complaint that personal details of their children were being shared on social media amid the escalating row over wearing hijab in the state’s educational institutions.
On February 25, the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also shared a court document on social media that listed the residential addresses of the petitioners in the Karnataka high court case. After coming under criticism, the party subsequently deleted its tweets in English as well as Kannada.