Tue 15 March 2022:
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi, seeking permission to wear Hijab inside the classroom.
The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, a three-judge bench of the court further noted.
“We are of the considered opinion that wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith,” Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi who headed the full bench of the High Court said reading out portion of the order.
He said the government had the power to prescribe uniform guidelines, dismissing various petitions challenging the order.
Students who had challenged the ban in court had said wearing the hijab was a fundamental right guaranteed under India’s constitution and an essential practice of Islam.
Lawyer Anas Tanwir, who said he will represent the girls now planning to move the Supreme Court, called the Karnataka court’s ruling “disappointing” and “erroneous”.
“I believe it is a wrong interpretation of the law,” he told Al Jazeera.
“As far as essential religious practice is concerned, [that] should not have been the question. The question should have been whether the [authorities] had the power to pass such orders.”
Tuesday’s ruling could set a precedent for the rest of the country, home to more than 200 million Muslims who make up about 14 percent of India’s 1.35 billion population.
11. Are saffron turbans “essential”? Or only a “reaction” to hijab? Third, GO & HC order suspended fundamental rights. We saw media, police & admin harass hijab wearing students & even teachers. Kids have been even banned from writing exams. It’s a mass violation of civil rights
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) March 15, 2022
Currently, there is no central law or rule on school uniforms across the country, but the Karnataka ruling could prompt more states to issue such guidelines.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs governments in Karnataka as well as at the centre, has backed the discriminatory ban. The BJP has for decades campaigned for the application of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which minorities believe would be tantamount to the imposition of Hindu laws.
The dispute began in January when a government-run school in Karnataka’s Udupi district barred students wearing hijabs from entering classrooms, triggering protests by Muslims and counter-protests by Hindu students.
More schools and colleges in the state followed with similar bans and the state’s top court disallowed students from wearing the hijab until it delivered a verdict.
In India, the hijab has historically been neither banned nor limited in public spheres.
Many in Karnataka say Muslim girls have worn the hijab in schools and colleges for decades, just as Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have done with symbols of their respective symbols.
The dispute has led to criticism that India’s Muslims are being further marginalised.
Ahead of the verdict, Karnataka authorities announced closures of schools and colleges, and imposed restrictions on public gatherings in some parts of the state to prevent potential trouble.
Last month, federal Home Minister Amit Shah said he preferred students sticking to school uniforms instead of any religious attire.
Karnataka’s ban had led to protests in some other parts of the country too and drew criticism from the United States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The controversy has reignited the debate about the rights of India’s minorities under the Hindu nationalist government. Activists have said attacks against Muslims and their religious symbols have increased under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The hijab ban came as the religious minorities, mainly Muslims and Christians, faced attacks from the right-wing Hindu groups in the state – home to the Indian IT hub of Bengaluru. The state’s Hindu-nationalist BJP government has passed laws against cow slaughter and anti-conversion believed to target minorities.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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