The protests over wearing hijabs and saffron shawls in colleges turned violent in Shivamogga on Tuesday forcing the district administration to clamp prohibitory orders in the city until Wednesday evening.
Hundreds of students took part in the protests against hijabs on college campuses, while those in support of hijabs took out a march. The protest turned violent as both the group came face to face on B.H. Road near the Science Field. A few protesters threw stones, leaving seven students injured.
Many students with saffron shawls gathered at the Government First Grade College in Bapuji Nagar shouting ‘Jai Sriram’. They protested against Muslim girls wearing hijabs. The college staff let the girls inside and insisted that they remove their hijabs before attending classes. There were similar incidents at Government Pre-University College in the Science Field.
The district administration had deployed policemen at all colleges. They tried hard to disperse the mob and at times resorted to mild lathi-charge too. The policemen had a tough task in handling the crowd when the students went out of the campus and hit the streets raising slogans against each other.
Deputy Commissioner Selvamani R. and Superintendent of Police B.M. Laxmi Prasad visited the campus and took stock of the situation. Senior police officers including the SP were on the ground to handle the mob. At one point the SP appealed to the students to return home as their demands had been conveyed to the government.
The administration clamped the prohibitory orders as per Section 144 of the CrPC until Wednesday evening to avoid untoward situations in the city. The policemen went around the city informing the public about prohibitory orders in place. Mr. Selvamani, the DC, told The Hindu that the tahsildar of Shivamogga taluk had issued the prohibitory orders as there were a couple of incidents of stone pelting in the city.
Later, MLA Hartal Halappa visited the government hospital in Sagar town where the injured were being treated. In presence of the MLA, a group of people assaulted a person. The MLA said he had spoken to police officers and the administration will take action against those disturbing peace.
There were protests by students in parts of Hassan and Chikkamagaluru as well.
In Chikkamagaluru, the teaching staff at IDSG First Grade College refused to allow students with scarves enter the college. The Muslim girls refused to remove scarves and demanded that they be allowed to attend classes. There also were many students with saffron shawls outside the college.
