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2 arrested with knives, machetes close to Karnataka protest site amid hijab row
While taking a dig at politicians who have been criticising the BJP government over the row, he said that the politicians from Jammu & Kashmir should reveal where their children study and the state of women in the erstwhile state.
Two Muslim men carrying sharp-edged weapons, purportedly to create unrest, near the students’ protest site outside Government PU College in Kundapura, Udupi, have been arrested, said the police on Sunday.
The students have been protesting against the hijab ban by the college authorities.
“The arrested accused have been identified as Abdul Majeed, 32, Rajjab, 41. Rajjab is a history sheeter. As per the preliminary probe, the accused came in a group of five. On spotting the cops, they tried to flee from the site, but Majeed and Rajjab were apprehended. A manhunt has been launched for the other three, Khalil, Rizwan and Iftikar,” said a police statement.
“They were carrying knives and machetes and were trying to mix with the protesting crowd in a bid to provoke communal tensions,” said a police official.
Police have registered a case against the accused persons under Sections 120 (b) (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 147(punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 308(attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The incident comes even as the situation in the communally sensitive coastal district continues to boil over the incident which started around a month ago when six students were not allowed to enter the classroom for wearing a hijab.
Karnataka’s minister for primary and secondary education, BC Nagesh, who has been vocal about the developments, while speaking to a Kannada news channel on Sunday said, “This has been in the Karnataka Education Act. It is not some new rule we brought out.”
“The same students were not wearing hijab until now but are being forced to exhibit their religious identities by miscreants looking to benefit politically. It is sad that some people in the country are trying to create a divide between religion and are using children for the same,” he added.
“One section has said that they will wear hijab while another has said that they will wear saffron shawls. No educational institution should become a platform for difference between religions. It is a platform to gain knowledge and education,” he said.
While taking a dig at politicians who have been criticising the BJP government over the row, he said that the politicians from Jammu & Kashmir should reveal where their children study and the state of women in the erstwhile state.
“Some people from the entertainment industry might have asked former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to tweet about the issue. But, he does not understand the rules or acts.Rahul should ask his mother if such rules apply in Italy,” he said.
Karnataka leader of opposition-cum- senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah said the choice of dress is a fundamental right of students, which the right-wing activists want to crash. “Our leader Rahul Gandhi has rightly pointed out that politics should not be played with the students’ right to dress,” he said.
