Hijab debate: Adjournment plea filed in Lower House

As the hijab debate reached Parliament, Congress Lok Sabha MP K Suresh filed an adjournment motion on Wednesday to discuss the issue, blasting the Karnataka government for "communalizing the present situation," which he claims is "constitutionally prohibited."

Suresh wrote In his adjournment notice, "The communalisation of the ongoing crisis by the state government is against the Constitution and the government must find ways to resolve the crisis immediately."

The Congress MP described the situation in Karnataka since the start of the row as "dangerous," claiming that Muslim students' rights to wear hijab are being "unilaterally denied."

He said, "The dangerous situation unfolding in Karnataka, where the rights of Muslim students to wear hijab is being unilaterally denied and their rights to freedom of choice and practice of faith are interfered. The colleges forcing Muslim students to choose between hijab and studies is denying the right to education to students and the situation is spiralling out of control to a violent communal conflagration spilling across the country and it can ignite religious animosity between communities."

Due to the pending nature of the case, the Karnataka High Court's single bench of Justice Krishna Dixit forwarded petitions challenging the hijab prohibition at colleges to a larger panel on Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court urged students and the general public to maintain peace and serenity as it heard numerous petitions contesting the state's hijab prohibition.

The state's Hijab protests began in January of this year when some students at the Government Girls PU College in Karnataka's Udupi district said they were prohibited from attending courses because of their religious beliefs. Some students alleged that they were denied admission to the college because they wore hijab during the protests.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka government issued a three-day holiday in all universities and colleges under the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Collegiate and Technical Education on Tuesday, in response to the state's hijab row (DCTE).