Students of Aligarh Muslim University on Friday protested for four hours against the hijab ban imposed by several colleges in Karnataka and resolved to hold a bigger protest on Saturday.

Over 2,000 male and female students marched on the campus after the Friday prayers, chanting “Allah hu Akbar” and shouting that wearing the hijab was a constitutional right.

The march began from the students’ union hall and ended at the Bab-e-Sayed — the main gate of the university — where the protesters held a meeting.

“The ruling dispensation (BJP) has been raising the issue for mileage in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. They can win only after polarising society and poisoning minds,” Mohammad Arif, a student leader, said.

“Our protest will continue to alert people about the designs of the government, which stands neither with Hindus nor with Muslims.”

He added: “We understand that the BJP wants to publicise the incident (in Karnataka) so it can create an atmosphere against the minorities during polling in Uttar Pradesh, but we will not sit silent.”

As a burqa-clad student, Bibi Muskan, was trying to enter the PES College of Science, Arts and Commerce this week in Mandya town in Karnataka, young men sporting saffron scarves had heckled her with slogans, the most audible being “Jai Shri Ram”. Muskan had shouted back “Allah hu Akbar” and “Hijab is my right” and walked on.

Aligarh voted in the first phase on February 10.

“We didn’t protest on a large scale before because our university administration didn’t give us permission on the pretext of the elections,” Arshad Khan, an AMU student, said. “We have the support of Hindu students across the state as they have realised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath are ideologically bankrupt and survive on communal issues.”