India: Hijab protests banned as row escalates

The Indian city of Bangalore banned protests around schools and other educational institutions for two weeks on Wednesday.

The move comes just 24 hours after all high schools in Karnataka state closed their gates for the remainder of the week as a row over an Islamic headscarf ban intensified.

The southern Indian state, of which Bangalore is the capital, closed all educational institutions for three days beginning Wednesday, as protests and violence escalated over the decision of some colleges to prohibit female students from wearing the hijab or a headscarf in classrooms.

On Tuesday, clashes between Muslim students against the ban and those supporting it broke out. Stone-throwing, arson and baton charges by police took place in several towns in Karnataka state, NDTV news channel reported.

The debate in southern India is raging over whether the government can implement such a ban. Legal action, as well as angry protests, has been threatened against the local government.

'Horrifying' hijab ban, says prominent activist

Outrage at the ban has spilled over onto social media, with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai tweeting her support for the young women's right to wear the hijab.

"College is forcing us to choose between studies and the hijab," she said. "Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalization of Muslim women."

Footage has gone viral of one hijab-wearing student being pursued by Hindu men shouting "Jai Shri Ram" (Hail Lord Ram) as she arrives at PES College in the city of Mandya, around 100 kilometers (around 60 miles) southeast of Bangalore.

Activists, as well as many from India's 200 million-member minority Muslim community, say hate crimes against Muslims have increased since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

jsi/sms (AFP, Reuters, dpa)