In accordance with the ongoing hijab row in the state of Karnataka, 6 students in a government school happened to offer Namaz inside the school premises in Ilkul, Bagalkote. The controversy erupted when the locals of Ilkul town opposed the students being allowed to offer Namaz in the school premises.
According to the CNNnews18 report, the Ilkul school principal had clearly directed the students that they can’t offer Namaz in the classrooms or in the school, yet the girls offered Namaz in the corridor area when the teachers were busy having their lunch. The locals have questioned the school management over the incident.
#BREAKING | 6 students offer Namaz at a Govt school in Bagalkote, Locals oppose students being allowed to offer Namaz in school premises. @harishupadhya shares details with @toyasingh@swastikadas95 brings in latest updates from Udupi . pic.twitter.com/q6Zqez17J5
— News18 (@CNNnews18) February 12, 2022
While the video of the girls offering Namaz went viral over the social media, a similar incident has been reported in a government school of Kadapa in Mangalore. The girls there were seen offering Namaz inside a vacant classroom. As tensions prevailed in the town, the Block Education Officer in Manglore has sought a report pertaining to the incident from the school in Kadapa.
This is weeks after a school principal of Bale Changappa Government Higher Primary School in Bengaluru got suspended for allowing students to offer Namaz in the classroom. Around 20 students offered their Friday prayers in the classroom since December last year, after headmistress Uma Devi permitted them to do so.
The issue, however, came to light when a video of the incident was shot on Friday, January 21 and uploaded on various social media sites on January 23.Many locals as well as the members of various Hindu organisations had protested against the authorities of the school for favoring children of a particular community.
Offering Namaz in Public places
Huge controversies have embroiled after local Muslim residents started offering Namaz in public places in some parts of India, especially Gurugram in Haryana. Recalling the one in Gurgaon, Haryana, CM Manohar Lal Khattar had opined that ‘Namaz should be read in Mosques or Idgahs rather than public spaces’.
Further according to former UP Shia Waqf Board chairman Syed Waseem Rizvi people are supposed to seek permission before using public spaces for prayers. “One cannot offer namaz at a public space without seeking permission from the authorities concerned. Offering Namaz at public places without proper permission is not allowed in Islam,” Rizvi had said earlier back in 2018. Rizvi has since reverted to Hinduism and goes by the name Jitendra Narayan Tyagi
Prominent Muslim cleric and member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali also had noted that Muslims should avoid offering namaz at places where it inconveniences others. “People must adhere to the directions of the local administration when it comes to using public spaces for offering namaz. It is best that one offers Namaz either inside one’s home or at a designated place such as a mosque,” the Muslim scholar had said then.
Police suspects Campus Front India’s (CFI) role in the Karnataka Hijab Row
In an update to the ongoing hijab controversy in Karnataka that initiated at the core of Udupi first, the CNNnews18 report confirms that the communal tensions in the city have calmed down after hundreds of policemen rallied on the streets to motivate the students to not fall prey to the vested interests.
However, the major point of contention revolves around the role of the Campus Front of India (CFI) who is believed to be the brain child of the entire episode. The Police and the local administrative authorities have suspected that the CFI has instigated the girls to run the Muslim agenda. The CFI has also been accusing the state government of favoring the anti-muslim propoganda.
The Police to the CNNnews18 has said that they are about to launch an investigation in the case pertaining to CFI’s involvement. This is after the Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat has also called for an NIA investigation into the hijab controversy. “The students all by themselves cannot plant themselves into such a massive operations and conjure up such support for the Hijab movement”, he was quoted.
The hijab controversy gained the grounds earlier this month when eight hijab wearing Muslim girls denied to follow the school uniform regulations. They hit the High Court seeking permission to attend the classes with hijab, as it is their fundamental rights, they said. The girls have admitted to have been consulting CFI over the hijab row. They have been in talks with the CFI since October 2021 and the pro-hijab protests started in December 2021.
The High Court so far has declared that no one should be allowed to wear their religious attire inside the educational institutions until the matter is pending in the Court. However, the Supreme Court denied to interfere in the matter after the girls impatiently knocked the doors of the apex court.
