One of the petitioners in the hijab case in the Karnataka High Court, Hazra Shifa, has alleged that "Sangh Parivar goons", on February 21 night, attacked her brother and damaged her property in Udupi.
In a series of tweets, she demanded that a case be filed against the attackers. "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," she tweeted. According to Shifa, her 20-year-old brother, Saif, is admitted to Hitech Hospital, Udupi.
The Bench of the Karnataka High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice JM Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit is hearing the case where young Muslim women are demanding that they be allowed to wear hijabs in the classrooms. On January 1, 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 while wearing a hijab.
This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear their hijab in class, which was denied. Meanwhile, the college principal, Rudra Gowda, claims this to be the doing of "outside forces" and said that it is only until recently that students started wearing headscarves inside the classroom but it was allowed on campus. "The institution did not have any rule on hijab-wearing as such, since no one has worn 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 earlier.
