Mob thrashes class 10 boy following hijab row in Tripura school

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.

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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.