The universities belonging to the department of Higher Education and colleges under the Department of Collegiate and Technical Education, in the wake of the hijab row, will now be shut till February 16, the Karnataka government said Friday.
“Examinations, however, will be held as scheduled and it has been directed to conduct online classes,” state Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan stated in a statement today.
On Friday, the Karnataka High Court released an interim order for colleges to reopen and for students to refrain from wearing clothes that are not prescribed under colleges’ uniform norms. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court declined to give urgent listing for hearing a Special Leave Petition against Karnataka High Court’s direction regarding the hijab petitions. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana said, “The CJI said, “Don’t spread these things to a larger level…we don’t want to express anything on it.”
Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Supreme Court on Saturday in the wake of seeking a direction to the Union government, states and union territories to implement a common dress code for staffers and students in registered educational institutions for securing equality and promoting fraternity and national integration among them. On Friday, other cases pertaining to the ‘hijab’ controversy were mentioned for urgent hearing before the top court, which took note of the pendency before the three-judge bench in the Karnataka High Court, and said it would protect the Constitutional rights of every citizen and take up cases at an “appropriate time”.
In another development, Bahutva Karnataka, an organization who were planning to hold hold candle vigil on Saturday evening in support of hijab and the women students and against the atrocities of few Hindu vigilante had to cancel the event after Bengaluru City Police withdrew its permission, the Indian Express reported.
Read: Karnataka Hijab Row Now With Larger Bench, Seems Headed to Apex Court
