After Muslims in the coastal region shut down their shops on March 17 to protest against the Karnataka High Court’s decision on the hijab issue, the managing committee of Hosa Marigudi Temple in Kaup, Udupi district, has decided not to allow Muslims to bid for the auction to allocate shops for the annual ‘Suggi Mari Pooje’ (annual fair).
According to the reports, Ramesh Hegde, president of the temple administration committee, said that they have passed a resolution allowing only Hindus to participate in the auction of shops. The auction to allot shops to sell flowers, coconuts, hens, and other products will be open for Hindus. The temple administration committee has also added that the individuals who participate in the auction have been informed not to sub-contract their shops to any Muslim traders to avoid law and order issues.
Ramesh Hegde further stated that pro-Hindu organisations asked the temple committee to deny Muslims the stalls as they have been opposing the recent Karnataka High Court’s decision to ban hijab inside the educational institutions.
“With over a lakh people expected to attend the celebration over two days, there should be no law and order issues. As a result, a decision was reached by consensus,” he said. The annual fair will be held in the temple premises in Kaup on March 22 and March 23.
The Hindu activist group – Hindu Jagarana Vedike (HJV) Mangaluru divisional general secretary Prakash Kukkehalli said they had written a letter to the chief officer of Kaup Town Municipality requesting that Muslims be not allowed to open their shops during the annual fair. The HJV also approached the temple management committee, requesting that only Hindus be allowed to bid in the auction.
“Even local temple worshippers were outraged because Muslims had closed their shops to support the Karnataka bandh on March 17. All parties approved of the temple’s decision taken on Friday,” Prakash Kukkehalli asserted.
The temple administrators were alerted that allowing Muslims to participate in the auction would cause law and order problems during the festival.
On March 18, around 100 stores were auctioned by the Hosa Marigudi temple committee. Kaup Town Municipality Chief Officer Venkatesh Navada said that he had received the letter written by the activist group, however, he claimed that India is a secular society hence traders from all communities are welcome to open shops.
Several Muslim organisations had called for a bandh on March 17 to protest against the recent ruling of the Karnataka High Court that categorically stated the hijab is not a part of the “essential religious practice” in the Islamic faith.
A day after the Karnataka High Court delivered a historic judgement upholding the rights of educational institutions to ban the hijab and declaring that it is not an essential Islamic practice, Muslim organisations had decided to hit streets in Karnataka on March 17 to protest over the High Court’s decision.
Hijab row
The hijab controversy in Karnataka gained momentum since the first week of January after eight Muslim girls were denied entry to classes in a Udupi college because they were wearing hijab. The college authorities had informed that the hijab was not a part of the uniform dress code mandated for the students.
The Muslim girls, adamant about wearing hijab, then filed a petition in High Court seeking permission to attend classes with hijab. They stated that wearing the hijab was their ‘fundamental right’ granted under Articles 14 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and ‘integral practice of Islam’.
The controversy spiralled as Hindu students in Karnataka styled with saffron scarves around their necks and protested against Muslim girls continuing to wear hijab to the college. Tensions also prevailed at some educational institutions in Udupi, Shivamogga, Bagalkote, and other parts, as stones-pelting and violence were reported from various parts of the state.
As reported earlier, the students had begun to wear hijab to schools and colleges after meeting the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student branch of the Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI), in October 2021. The students confessed that they had spoken with the CFI.
