[Image source: Twitter]
Mangaluru: In an embarrassing development for the ruling BJP, ABVP leader Vinyas V Acharya resigned as University College Student Union President after registering his opposition to protests on campus against Hijab.
ABVP or Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist - Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and students' wing of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
Karnataka is witnessing protests against Muslim students wearing Hijabsince December last. Similar protest against Hijab was held Thursday May 26 at University College, Hampankatta, Mangaluru.
Vinyas Acharya however opposed the protest. He also asked the ABVP members leading the protests to resolve the matter amicably, according to the local media reports.
The students however did not agree and accusing him of having soft corner with Muslims students asked to resign from the post.
“I asked ABVP students not to protest on Hijab issue as it will dent the college’s image. But they didn't listen to me and dragged the issue on street. Hence I am resigning from the post”, Acharya is quoted as saying in multiple twitter posts.
Meanwhile, communal tension in coastal Karnataka region comprising Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi is on a rise with the resurfacing of protests over Hijab and the Malali temple-mosque row.
The coastal region of the state is considered to be communally sensitive and bastion of BJP. The region is prone to communal tensions and clashes. The Hijab crisis which snowballed into an international issue had started from here.
When things seemed to have settled down, the communal strife raised its ugly head again in the region with the Hindu students, reportedly associated with ABVP, launching a protest against wearing of Hijab in classrooms as classes in schools and colleges resumed after summer holidays.
Following the protest in University College of Mangaluru, BJP MLA Vedavyasa Kamat is holding a meeting with College Development and Management Committee members and students. Mangaluru University Vice-Chancellor and Registrar are also participating in the meeting.
Reacting on the controversy created over Malali Masjid, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has stated that they will not let Hindu activists carry one handful of soil from the mosque. "Don't dream about taking over masjid," stated Abdul Majeed Mysuru, the state president of SDPI on Saturday.
Addressing a rally at Mangaluru, Majeed challenged Hindu activists and Sangh Parivar members to take traditional way of "Tambula Prashne" to ascertain on destroying of 200 years old Suggalamma temple in Ballary by mining baron and BJP leader Janardhana Reddy.
"Sangh activists, who give boycott calls of businessmen, aren't you ashamed when Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had inked MoU with Yousuf Ali for Rs 2,000 crore?" questioned Abdul Majeed.
M.A. Yusuf Ali is a UAE-based Indian businessman and billionaire. He is the chairman and managing director of LuLu Group International that owns the LuLu Hypermarket chain worldwide.
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