At Tripura school, Class 10 Indian boy thrashed by ‘right-wing' mob over Hijab row

A mob allegedly assaulted a Class 10 boy studying in a government school in Tripura on Friday after he objected to hijab-clad Muslim girls being prevented from attending their classes, news agency PTI reported.

The student, identified as Iliyas Sarkar Suman, was dragged out of his classroom by a right-wing mob and was thrashed in front of the entire school but no teacher or the headmaster came to the boy's rescue, reported NDTV.

In a rerun of the Karnataka hijab controversy, the incident took place after an argument broke out among the Hindu and Muslim students of the Koroimura Higher Secondary School over Muslim girls wearing a hijab, the PTI report added.

The Bishalgarh subdivision area of Sepahijala district was reportedly tense after the incident. Locals took to the streets after the incident came to light.

PTI reported that Iliyas allegedly joined a group of students in ransacking the school principal's office after some Muslim girl students were asked to not wear hijab and go to school in a 'proper' uniform. After that, a mob gathered outside the school and attacked the teenager, leaving him badly wounded.

Iliyas, a resident of Prabhurampur, was rushed to a healthcare centre near the school.

"After a meeting with teachers, I recently directed all students to attend school wearing proper uniforms. However, girl students from the minority community said they cannot follow the directive as wearing hijab is a religious belief," the school's headmaster Priyatosh Nandi told reporters.

Tension over the hijab row has been continuing for a while now in the northeastern state. Nandi also said that a group of former students, affiliated to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), recently met and urged him to ask students of all religions to wear proper school uniforms and enforce a ban on women students wearing hijab.

Since Muslim students continued to wear hijab in school, some Hindu students attended the school in saffron-coloured kurta on Thursday.

When the headmaster asked the students in saffron kurtas to wear school uniform they "asserted they will wear school uniform provided all the students come to the institute in proper school uniform".

The police, meanwhile, claimed that it was not a communal issue. As the tension prevails, a heavy police force was deployed in the area. Classes have also been cancelled to de-escalate the issue. The police also said the state authorities were closely monitoring the issue and working towards restoring peace in the area.