Mob thrashes class 10 boy following hijab row in Tripura school
Agartala (PTI): A class 10 student of a government school in Tripura's Sepahijala district was injured on Friday when he was assaulted by a mob for allegedly supporting the wearing of hijab by Muslim girls in the institute, a police officer said.
The incident followed a division between Hindu and Muslim students of the Koroimura Higher Secondary School over wearing head scarf by minority community girls, in a rerun of the Karnataka Hijab controversy.
The class 10 student had allegedly joined other students in ransacking the headmaster's room along with others. These students were angry as the headmaster had asked Muslim girl students not to wear hijab and come to school in proper school uniform, the police officer said.
Following this, a mob gathered outside the school and attacked the student when he came out, inuring the teenager, a resident Prabhurampur under Bishalgarh police station.
He was rushed to a nearby healthcare centre, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Law & Order, Jyotishman Das said.
"After a meeting with teachers, I recently directed all students to attend school wearing proper uniform. However, girl students from the minority community said they cannot follow this directive as wearing hijab is a religious belief," the headmaster, Priyatosh Nandi, told the media.
The headmaster said that a delegation of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had also met him recently and had urged him to ask the students irrespective of religion to attend classes in school uniform.
As Muslim girls continued to attend their classes wearing hijab, a group of Hindu students went to the school in saffron coloured kurta on Thursday.
Nandi said he asked those students wearing saffron kurtas to follow the school uniform rule.
"But these students asserted they will wear school uniform provided all the students come to the institute in proper school uniform," the headmaster said.
Although tension prevails in the area, the situation is under control, said the police official.
A controversy erupted in Karnataka early last year after a college barred wearing Hijab inside classrooms. The matter became a statewide issue soon and the case is currently pending in the Supreme Court.
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Heavy rain, hailstorms likely to lash Uttarakhand on Tuesday; IMD issues warning
Dehradun/Pithoragarh (PTI): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for heavy rain and hailstorms across several districts of Uttarakhand on Tuesday, as temperatures remained markedly below normal in the region.
Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Champawat, and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Most places across all districts are expected to receive light to moderate rain or thunderstorms, while higher reaches are likely to witness snowfall, officials said on Monday.
The weather department warned of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail and intense spells of rain in six districts, including Dehradun and Nainital. Gusty winds with speeds reaching 40-50 kmph are also expected at isolated locations in these areas and other hilly districts.
In the state capital, Dehradun, the sky is forecast to remain partly cloudy with light rain and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds of 30-40 kmph.
The maximum and minimum temperatures in the city are expected to hover around 31 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Maximum temperatures during the past 24 hours remained markedly below normal in the hills and appreciably below normal in the plains. While no significant change in temperature is expected over the next 2-3 days, the IMD predicts a rise of 3-5 degrees Celsius during the subsequent 3-4 days.
Rainfall was recorded in several areas after 8.30 am today, with Ramnagar receiving 31.5 mm and Nainital recording 26.5 mm. Other areas, including Pithoragarh, Khatima and Champawat, also reported moderate precipitation.
Authorities have stopped a batch of 36 Adi Kailash pilgrims at the Dharchula base camp and placed the high-altitude yatra route on high alert following heavy rains and hailstorms in the district on Monday.
Dharchula SDM Ashish Joshi said the pilgrimage was halted due to adverse weather conditions. The issuance of new inner-line passes has been suspended until the weather normalises.
With 1,700 passes issued so far, pilgrims already at higher camps are being monitored for safety, the official added.
