Karnataka HC quashes petitions challenging ban on Hijab, says ‘not essential religious practice’

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday quashed all petitions challenging the ban imposed by the government on wearing Hijab in schools and colleges. The HC declared that educational institutions have a right to prescribe uniforms and held that the Karnataka government’s order dated February 5 is not unconstitutional.

It also said that wearing of Hijab does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith.

“We are of the considered opinion wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith,” the full bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit, and Justice JM Khazi, said.

The court in its order mentioned that the prescription of school uniforms is a reasonable restriction that students could not object to.

Meanwhile, large gatherings have been banned and schools have been shut in the state. Section 144 has also been imposed in the Shivamogga, Udupi, Kalaburagi districts.

The hijab controversy first took shape on January 1, when six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by the Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into classrooms wearing headscarves or hijab. This was followed by some Hindu students turning up in saffron shawls in protest, even as the government insisted on a uniform norm.

The full bench of the High Court was constituted on February 9 on a petition filed by girls from Udupi who prayed that they should be allowed to wear Hijab even inside the classroom along with the school uniform as it was part of their faith. The full bench of the High Court started hearing on a day-to-day basis from February 10. It concluded the hearing in the case on March 14.

News Credit: India TV News