Bengaluru, Feb 19: Girl students in many parts of Karnataka were denied entry into their respective educational institutions on Saturday as they arrived in hijabs, as the issue showed no signs of abating after its flare-up about a fortnight ago that prompted the government to close down colleges and institutions for a couple of days.

As many as 58 students were suspended at Shiralakoppa in Shivamogga district for refusing to remove their hijab and staging a demonstration against the government pre-university college administration.

The girls were suspended on Friday and were told that they should not come to the college, a student told reporters. On Saturday too, they came to the college, raised slogans and demanded their right to wear hijab. However, they were not let in.

"We came here but the principal told us that we have all been suspended and there is no need for us to come to the college. Even police told us not to come to the college but we came here. Today, no one spoke to us," the students complained.

In the SJVP College at Harihar in Davangere district, girls wearing hijab were denied entry. The pupils refused to go inside without the scarf, stressing that it was as important as education and they cannot give up their right.

In Vijay Paramedical College in Belagavi district, students complained to the reporters that a holiday was announced by the institution for an indefinite period due to the hijab issue.

"We will not sit without headscarves. Let the college realise how it affects our education. The principal is not listening to us," a student told the media.

In Ballari, a group of girls were not allowed inside the Sarala Devi College, which has been witnessing protests from the day the controversy erupted and the government had ordered that no one should wear clothes that could disturb peace, harmony and, law and order.

The government college at Gangavathi in Koppal district too faced a similar situation where girls were not allowed inside the college.

In Kudur village in Ramanagara district, some students staged a demonstration on the college ground after they were not allowed to enter the classrooms.

On January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into the classroom by wearing hijab.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa passed away at a private hospital here on Sunday due to age-related ailments, official sources said.

He was 95 and represented the Davanagere South Assembly constituency. He had been undergoing treatment at the hospital for some time.

Shivashankarappa is survived by three sons, including S S Mallikarjun, Karnataka Minister for Mines and Geology and Horticulture, and four daughters.

His daughter-in-law, Prabha Mallikarjun, is the Member of Parliament from Davanagere.

A former minister, Shivashankarappa, served as treasurer of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for several decades and was the president of the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of the influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat community.

He was also a noted educationist who established several educational institutions and was an industrialist.