Wear prescribed uniforms, Karnataka minister tells students

Students in Karnataka should wear the prescribed uniform to school and not outfits that have religions connotations, state Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said on Thursday said 

Children should neither wear the hijab nor saffron shawls to school, Jnanendra said, directing police to “watch” religious outfits.

“Children don’t go to schools to practise their religion. They should go to school thinking they’re children of Bharat Mata. Inside a school compound, there should not be hijab or saffron shawls,” the minister said.

He was reacting to more than 100 Hindu students wearing saffron shawls at a government pre-university college in Kundapur to counter Muslim girls who sported headscarves.

“There are religious organisations that seem to have different ideas when it comes to India’s unity. So I have asked the police to watch them,” Jnanendra said.

For a month now, eight Muslim girls have been protesting for their right to attend class wearing headscarves at a government women’s pre-university college in Udupi.

“The education minister has already said that there is a prescribed uniform that students should stick to. Students of all religions should sit together and study with the feeling that they’re children of the same mother. There are churches, mosques and temples where religious activities can be followed. But, in a school where an academic atmosphere is needed our children should have the culture of promoting India’s unity,” Jnanendra argued.

Earlier in the day, Jnanendra flagged off at least 30 new vehicles that the government has purchased for the State Disaster Response Force. He said they include ambulances and even diesel generator sets for remote areas where there is no electricity.