AMN / WEB DESK
In a setback to students who had challenged a ban on wearing the hijab in class, the Karnataka High Court today said that a hijab is not an essential religious practice. Five petitions had challenged the ban in court.
Prescription of uniform is a reasonable restriction on fundamental rights under Article 25, the court said. Late last month, the Karnataka government had contended before the High Court that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam and preventing it does not violate the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.
No case is made out for invalidating the government order of February 5, the court said. On February 5, the Karnataka government had banned “clothes that were against law and order” and on February 10 the High Court temporarily banned all religious outfits as it heard petitions challenging the restrictions.
Further, CJ Awasthi said, “We are of the considered opinion (that) wearing of hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in the Islamic faith.”
This comes in response to the students, who argued that wearing the hijab is an essential religious practise under Islam and its suspension, even for a few hours, violates fundamental rights under Articles 19 and 25 of the Constitution. The State government had argued that the petitioners (the Muslim girl students) were seeking to declare the hijab as an ‘essential religious practice’, which, if accepted, would bind every Muslim woman to follow a particular dress code.
The row had erupted in January when the government colleges in the Udupi and Mangaluru districts barred Muslim girl students from entering the classroom while wearing the hijab. It had triggered protests that escalated and turned violent after men from fringe Hindu groups wore saffron shawls in retaliation to the women in hijabs and demanded that if hijabs are allowed, saffron scarves should as well be.
After the clashes in Shivamogga and other districts over this, on February 5, the Karnataka government issued a controversial order saying that girls (students) would not be allowed to attend classes if they insisted on wearing a hijab.
Update| “Karnataka High Court decision to uphold hjab ban is deeply disappointing”: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti
Ahead of the order, the state government banned large gatherings for a week in state capital Bengaluru “to maintain public peace and order”. Mangalore too banned large gatherings from March 15 to 19. Schools and colleges are closed in Udupi today.
The Karnataka High Court had temporarily banned religious clothes, including Hijab and saffron scarves, last month as the controversy snowballed into protests and a face-off between different sections of students.
Meanwhile Students of The New College in Chennai protest against the Karnataka High Court’s verdict over hijab row. The high court dismissed various petitions challenging a ban on Hijab in education institutions and said that wearing Hijab isn’t an essential religious practice of Islam.