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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After arriving from Delhi, Shinde heads to his native village; Mahayuti meet likely on Sun
Mumbai(PTI): Outgoing Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who returned to Mumbai from New Delhi on Friday morning, is travelling to his native village in Satara district amid continuing suspense over his successor a week after the assembly poll results.
Shinde had told reporters in New Delhi on late Thursday night that the next meeting of the Mahayuti alliance on government formation will be held in Mumbai on Friday.
However, the caretaker CM, who heads the Shiv Sena, is travelling to his native village Dare in Satara district in western Maharashtra and the meeting is now expected to take place on Sunday, the sources said.
The Shiv Sena leader has repeatedly said he would not be an obstacle in the government formation and abide by the decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the next chief minister.
Different viewpoints are emerging in the Shiv Sena over Shinde's place in the next government to be headed by the BJP, the biggest constituent in the Mahayuti, which posted a thumping win in the just-held assembly polls.
Many leaders in the Shiv Sena are asking Shinde to accept deputy CM's post if offered by the BJP. However, another section feels it wouldn't be right for him to accept No. 2 position after serving as CM for more than two-and-a-half years, the sources said.
"The government formation process will start after the BJP announces its legislature party leader," they said.
During his Delhi trip, Shinde had met Shah and discussed formation of the next government in the state. His deputies in the outgoing state cabinet Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) had also met the senior BJP leader.
Talking to reporters in the national capital, Shinde called the discussion “good and positive”.
Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar had also met BJP president J P Nadda.
