Hijab row: Plea moved in Supreme Court challenging Karnataka HC order

New Delhi [India], March 15 : Following Karnataka High Court's decision to uphold the ban on Hijab in educational institutes in the state, a plea has been moved in the Supreme Court challenging its order.
The plea has been moved against Karnataka HC's order dismissing various pleas challenging the ban on Hijab in educational institutes.
The petitioner, through his plea, has submitted that the High Court has erred in creating a dichotomy of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience wherein the court has inferred that those who follow a religion can not have the right to conscience.
Earlier today, the AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi expressed disagreement with Karnataka High Court's judgement on Hijab and had hoped that petitioners would appeal before the SC.
Calling the High Court's decision a violation of the fundamental rights to freedom of religion, culture, expression and Article 15, Owaisi had said that it will have a negative impact on Muslim women.
"Modernity is not about eschewing religious practices. What is the problem if one wears the hijab?" Owaisi had questioned.
Students of a college in Chennai also staged a protest against the Karnataka High Court's verdict today.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had also urged the students to focus on education, saying "it is a question of fate and education of our children".
Notably, the Karnataka High Court today held that the prescription of uniform is a reasonable restriction that students could not object to and dismissed various petitions challenging a ban on Hijab in education institutions.
The High Court, while upholding the Karnataka government's order which directs strict enforcement of school and college uniform rules, had dismissed petitions challenging the Hijab ban saying that they are without merit.
In its order, Karnataka High Court observed that the Holy Quran does not mandate the wearing of the hijab, and stated that it is a cultural practice and is used as apparel as a measure of social security.
The court said that the Quran shows concern for the cases of 'molestation of innocent women' and therefore, it recommended wearing of this and other apparel as a measure of social security. Maybe in the course of time, some elements of religion permeated into this practice as ordinarily happens in any religion.
"However, that per se does not render the practice predominantly religious and much less essential to the Islamic faith," the court said.
Further, it was observed that the hijab imbroglio gives scope for the argument that some "unseen hands" are at work to engineer social unrest and disharmony.
The Hijab row had erupted in January this year when the Government PU College in Udupi allegedly barred six girls wearing the hijab from entering. Following this, the girls sat in protest outside the college over being denied entry.
After this, boys of several colleges in Udupi started attending classes wearing saffron scarves. This protest spread to other parts of the state as well leading to protests and agitations in several places in Karnataka.
As a result, the Karnataka government said that all students must adhere to the uniform and banned both hijab and saffron scarves till an expert committee decided on the issue.
On February 5, the pre-University education board released a circular stating that the students can only wear the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious attire will be allowed in colleges.
The order stated that in case a uniform is not prescribed by management committees, then students should wear dresses that go well with the idea of equality and unity, and does not disturb the social order.
A batch of petitions was filed against the government's rule in the Karnataka High Court by some girls seeking permission to wear the hijab in educational institutions.
A bench of Karnataka High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit, and Justice JM Khazi heard the petitions challenging the government rule on dress code.
On February 10, the high court issued an interim order stating that said students should not wear any religious attire to classes till the court issues the final order. The hearings related to the Hijab case concluded on February 25 and the court had reserved its judgement.