Hundreds of male and female students demonstrated in the eastern city of Kolkata, chanting slogans and blocking roads to protest against a headscarf ban in the southern state of Karnataka, as the row over the wearing of headscarves in schools escalated.
Reuters said that the demonstrations did not witness any incidents.
“We will continue to protest until the government stops insulting female students,” said Tasmin Sultana, one of the protesters.
“All we want is to restore our basic rights that they cannot take away from us,” she added.
local media reported last week that several schools in Karnataka banned the entry of veiled girls based on an order from the Ministry of Education, which sparked protests from parents and students.
The controversy has drawn in Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girls’ education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who survived being shot at the age of 15 by a Taliban terrorist in her country in 2012.
Malala described this decision as terrifying, adding, “Incitement against Muslim women continues in all directions.”
The government of Karnataka, which has a 12% Muslim population and is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, issued a decree on February 5 requiring all students to follow school dress codes.
Opposition parties accuse the BJP government at the federal and state levels of discriminating against the Muslim minority.
Modi defended his record, saying his economic and social policies benefit all Indians.
