Mangaluru, Feb 6: An appeal was made on Sunday to not politicise the 'hijab' (scarf) issue in pre-university colleges in Karnataka.

In a statement here, the president of the Muslim Central Committee and former MLC Haji K S Masood criticised the MLAs in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi for trying to derive political gains from the row.

He said the principal of a college does not have the right to disallow students into class for wearing hijab.

The principal should prove under whose orders he had told the students to not wear hijab.

The committee has written to the Karnataka Chief Minister Bommai, State Ministers and the Education Department seeking permission for girl students to wear hijab. An issue involving students should not be communalised, he said.

He also criticised Dakshina Kannada district-in-charge Minister V Sunil Kumar for his remarks on the issue.

The students have approached the court seeking safeguarding the rights guaranteed in the Constitution, Masood said in the statement.

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Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.

AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.

“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.

He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.

“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.

According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.

In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.

AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.