India witnessed angry reactions from Muslims in protest against the support of a court in the state of Karnataka, the decision to ban the headscarf in schools, claiming that wearing it is not one of the principles of the Islamic religion.
Muslim students in several areas of the state organized protests against the decision.
The Karnataka Campus Front, a Muslim student movement, said that more than 4,000 Muslim students in 79 state educational institutions in the country did not attend their exams, on Tuesday, in protest of the court’s decision.
But Indian news websites quoted the state government as saying that the number of female students and male students who did not attend did not exceed 400 students.
Social media platforms witnessed a state of anger among users, who expressed their rejection of the decision, stressing that they would continue to work to restore their rights.
Social media users wrote, using the hashtag #HijabIsOurRight, to express their support for the right of Muslim students to wear the veil, and said that the court’s decision was a violation of freedoms.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the Indian state of Karnataka upheld the decision to ban the headscarf in schools, claiming that wearing it is not one of the principles of the Islamic religion.
In parallel with the court’s decision, the state administration banned gatherings in its capital, Bangalore, between 15 and 19 March under the pretext of maintaining public order and stability.
The controversy over the headscarf began in India last January, after Muslim students were prevented from attending their classes at a state college in the state because they wore the veil, which was later repeated in other colleges in the state.
Muslims make up about 14% of India’s population.
