Expression hijab ban at school India increasingly widespread. Hundreds of Kolkata city students took to the streets to protest the hijab ban in the state of Karnataka on Wednesday (9/2).

According to eyewitnesses, the students who protested in Kolkata were mostly Muslim women who wore the hijab.

Some students said they would protest again in the coming days.

“We will continue to demonstrate until the government stops insulting the students,” said Tasmeen Sultana, one of the protesters. Reuters.

“We want our basic rights back, you can’t take our rights away from us.”

Apart from Calcutta, protests have also taken place in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

Meanwhile, a group of Hindu students also staged a counter-protest by flocking to the school in support of the hijab ban.

Protests from both sides also prompted the Karnataka government to close schools and campuses for three days to ease tensions between Muslim and Hindu students.

Earlier, local media reported that several schools in Karnataka banned their students from entering school while wearing hijab. This ban was carried out by order of the Indian Ministry of Education.

This ban then sparked protests from students and parents.

In one video, a Muslim student wearing a hijab is seen surrounded by young Hindus. The youths shouted religious slogans as the girl attempted to enter a school in Karnataka.

Furthermore, this ban also received a response from women’s education activist, Malala Yousafzai. He called on Indian leaders to “end the marginalization of Muslim women”, in a statement on Twitter.

“Refusing to allow girls to go to school in their hijab is frightening. The objectification of women remains,” Yousafzai said on Tuesday (8/2).

The Karnataka government alone is home to 12% of the Muslim population. The territory’s government is headed by officials from the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Karnataka government urges students to follow the uniform rules set by the school.

Opposition parties and critics have accused the BJP government of discriminating against Muslims at state and federal levels.

Meanwhile, Modi has denied the accusations and said his economic and social policies will benefit all Indians.

(pwn/rds)