Hijab Row | Karnataka Govt Imposes Section 144 In Tumakuru District Ahead Of College Reopening

Tumakuru Deputy Commissioner YS Patil issued the order, stating that it applies to 200 metres of PU institutions, degree colleges, and other colleges.

Representational Image. (Source: Getty Images)

New Delhi: Ahead of the college reopening across Karnataka, the state government imposed Section 144 in the Tumakuru district on Tuesday, effective at 6 am on Wednesday and lasting until further directives.

Tumakuru Deputy Commissioner YS Patil issued the order, stating that it applies to 200 metres of PU institutions, degree colleges, and other colleges, news agency ANI reported.

“Section 144 imposed in Tumakuru district from 6 am of 16th February till next order ahead of PU colleges reopening. The order is applicable in 200 meters of PU colleges, degrees and other colleges’, YS Patil, Deputy commissioner, Tumakuru was quoted by ANI on its official Twitter handle.

Karnataka | Section 144 imposed in Tumakuru district from 6 am of 16th February till next order ahead of PU colleges reopening. The order is applicable in 200 meters of PU colleges, degree and other colleges: YS Patil, Deputy commissioner, Tumakuru#HijabRow

— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2022

Colleges and institutions in Karnataka have been closed owing to the hijab dispute.

Massive demonstrations erupted in Karnataka in January this year when several students at the Government Girls PU College in the Udupi region claimed they were denied admission because they wore a headscarf.

Following this, from February 14 to 19, the Udupi district government imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in areas around all high schools in the district.

The scandal began in Udupi, around 400 kilometres from Bengaluru when at least eight students from the district's Government Girls Pre-University institution were barred from attending lessons while wearing a hijab.

They sat outside the classrooms (on college grounds) while their remarks and recordings of claimed discrimination went viral through continuous media coverage and social media.

Previously, Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh said that all Pre-University (PU) colleges and degree colleges that had been shuttered due to pro and anti-hijab rallies will reopen on February 16.