UDUPI, India( Reuters)-Some schools reopened in the Indian state of Karnataka on Monday after

Tensions have frayed further in recent days in Udupi and elsewhere in majority Hindu Karnataka as

UDUPI, India( Reuters)-Senior schools reopened in the Indian state of Karnataka on Wednesday a week

A state in southern India reopened some schools on Monday that had been closed following protests last week over female students not being allowed to wear hijabs in class. The issue, widely seen by India's Muslim minority community as a bid to sideline it by authorities in a Hindu-dominated nation, comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party( BJP) prepares for elections in key states. Police stood guard as students in pink uniforms, about a dozen wearing hijabs, entered a gove

“ No one can understand our anxiousness about what is to follow, ” Afreen Fatima, a New Delhi-based student activist, wrote on Twitter.... “ The court’s Hijab ban is a great injustice and a very worrying precedence.... It is common to see women donning the headscarf in regions across the country, which has religious freedom enshrined in its national charter with the secular state as a cornerstone....

Undaunted, she continued walking towards her college building in footage that soon went viral on social media.“ Since I started studying[ here], I’ve always worn the burqa and hijab.... Shameful, ” said Indian news anchor Rajdeep Sardesai.“ As always, it takes a pack of men to attempt to intimidate a woman.... Such frightened, pathetic excuses for human beings....

The BJP is in power in both states." The hijab is not allowed in the defence forces, police, and government offices, then why the insistence on hijab in schools and colleges?... I'm scared that there will be changes like this in the whole country.... But I hope it does not happen.".....

On Monday, hundreds of students and parents took to the streets to protest the restriction. The dispute in Karnataka has set off protests elsewhere in India.... Nobel Peace Prize laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai also condemned the ban.... Violence and hate speech against Muslims have increased under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Hindu nationalist party, which also governs the Karnataka state....