Hijab not a major issue in coastal Karnataka poll campaign

The controversial issue of Muslim girls wearing hijab in educational institutions which had hit national headlines last year with a government preuniversity college in Udupi banning it inside classrooms does not appear to be a serious campaign issue for the May 10 elections to the Karnataka AssemblyThe BJP government in the state had in an order last year banned wearing of hijab inside campuses after the controversy broke out saying any clothing that would disturb equality integrity and public law and order will not be allowedStudents were directed to wear only the uniforms prescribed for them in schools and PU collegesThe order was passed after several hijabwearing girls in the state were denied entry into educational institutions wearing hijab The move had led to widespread protests across the countryThe Karnataka High Court upheld the government order after a few Muslim girl students moved the court The judgement was then challenged before the Supreme Court which subsequently delivered a split verdict in October The matter will be later heard by a larger benchBJPs poster boy of the hijab row Yashpal Suvarna is now the partys candidate for the Udupi Assembly constituency When the row broke out he was vicepresident of the development committee of the Udupi government PU college for womenAlso Read National Girl Child Day 2023 Muslim women speak about discrimination in Mumbairsquos public spacesThe incumbent MLA Raghupati Bhat who was president of the committee was replaced by Suvarna a Mogaveera fishermen community leader and firebrand activist who has a strong support base among the party cadreSuvarna says the controversy was a creation of antinational and antisocial elements who did not want Muslim girls or even poor Hindu students to be educatedPrime Minister Narendra Modis governance and the development initiatives of the BJP government will be my campaign agenda Suvarna saidHe said the banned Popular Front of India PFI was responsible for creating unrest in the Dakshina Kannada region over the hijab issue Otherwise Udupi is a place of peaceloving peopleSuvarna said the PFI its student outfit Campus Front of India CFI and the Karnataka Forum for Dignity KFD created the issue because they did not want girl children to be educated They wanted to divert the attention of the economically poor students at government PU college he saidHowever the hijab issue is not being taken up actively during the election campaign and the BJP is focussing on the development plankIf any party is secretly turning hijab into a campaign issue it is the Social Democratic Party of India SDPI the political arm of the banned PFI Political observers say they are the actual beneficiary of the issue with which they are trying to stir up emotions among the Muslim communityThe Congress leaders are also not highlighting the issue in their campaign Opposition deputy leader U T Khader who was blamed for taking an ambivalent stand when the row surfaced said he believes that everyone should follow the rule and laws of the land to maintain peace and harmonyHe said the issue was initially limited to one college while other colleges allowed students to wear hijab But the brainwashing by some organisations led to six students in Udupi to revolt against the college after following the rules of the college for more than a yearDubbed as the laboratory of Hindutva politics Dakshina Kannada and its twin district Udupi have already been communally polarised The BJP registered a big victory in the last Assembly elections bagging 12 out of 13 seats in the two districtsVHP leader Sharan Pumpwell says that Hindus have only one party to look up to and it is the BJP The SDPI is trying to cash in on the hijab controversy and only their hardcore workers who will go after them he saidAccording to social activist M G Hegde the SDPI has certainly been affected by the ban on PFI and other allied organisations He plays down SDPIs impact on the elections while other analysts say their presence can divide the votes of minorities which will adversely affect the CongressUdupi BJP president Kuyilady Suresh Naik said the party is working at the ground level and is focussing on development politics One round of campaigning is over and WhatsApp groups are being used at the boothlevel to connect with the voters he saidDakshina Kannada district BJP president Sudarshan Moodbidri said his party is confident of winning all eight segments in the districtWith a visible antiincumbency factor on the ground BJP leaders are also trying not to focus more on communal issues knowing full well that the consolidation of Hindu votes in their favour is intact in the regionFormer Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had also recently remarked that controversies around Muslims students being banned from wearing the hijab in college and the sale of halal meat in the state were unnecessaryHindus and Muslims should live like brothers and sisters From the beginning I have taken this stand he said in a recent statementCuriously the SDPI does not have a candidate in Udupi constituency where the hijab issue originated while they have a candidate in Kaup in the district and four in Dakshina KannadaThe Congress is wary of their virulent communal campaign in Muslim pockets especially in Puttur and Mangaluru constituencies In Puttur the party has fielded Shafi Bellary one of the accused in the murder of BJP youth wing leader Praveen NettaruHowever Congress candidate in Mangaluru U T Khader says they are not worried about SDPIs presence in his constituency The voters here know me and my work he saidThe SDPI has fielded candidates where the party has influence and our presence will be registered said SDPI general secretary Abdul Latheef PutturThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to 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