Hijab row updates: Karnataka HC adjourns matter till Monday

High Court has adjourned the hearing on Hijab row till Monday.

The bench directs that till the inquiry is complete, no religious symbols should be used.

High Court says it is in favour of giving an interim order within a few days

Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde continues, "The right to wear a hijab falls within the right to freedom of expression, privacy and conscience. The petitioners assert the right to wear hijab on the freedom of conscience as well as their right to religion."

He cites the NALSA judgment which stated that clothing can also form part of an individual's expression and identity.

Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat counters the AG, tells him that the issue is not about the uniform. The students will wear uniform, but they want to wear headscarf of same colour as the uniform. 

Kamat says, "Let them wear headscarves as they have been doing. This is not a harmful practice. This is an innocuous practice. It is not like somebody else is being harmed."

He goes to warn the state government that it is playing with fire. Citing the Government Order which he said calls the headscarf as not a part of religious practice, Kamat asks whether fundamental rights are subject to School Committees

State Advocate General informs the High Court that after the hijab issue came to fore, some students came to college wearing saffron. Then State issued a GO and ordered closing down colleges for three days.

He further contends that the government wants the students to adhere to dress code prescribed by concerned college. 

All students should come to college and classes have to start, the Advocate General said, adding that the education should resume even as the submission are considered by the court.

Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde tells High Court that the petitioners had been wearing headscarves over their uniforms. But since September 2021, they started were facing discrimination, they were marked absent and made to stand outside the class.

Hegde says there is no specific provision in the Karnataka Education Act that deals with the uniform.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde appearing for petitioner-students from a Udupi college, arguing in court. While senior advocate Devadatt Kamat is appearing for Kundapur students.

Lawyers are briefing the three-judge bench.

A three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court, headed by the Chief Justice of the state is hearing a case to decide if schools and colleges can order students to not wear the hijab in classrooms. The special bench will hear a total of five petitions on the hijab row on behalf of 18 girls from colleges in the Udupi region.

The issues surrounding the denial of entry to hijab-wearing students at the Udupi Government PU college should be solved in the ambit of the Constitution, said Udupi Jilla Muslim Okkuta.

In a statement Thursday, the group said, “It is incumbent on girls after reaching puberty to observe Purdah. Our Indian constitution has given full provision in this regard. Therefore, any institution should not interfere and obstruct this constitutional prerogative.”

“The scarf does not violate any rules or regulations. The students willing to wear the scarf should be allowed to wear the same colour as the prescribed uniform is just demand, and Muslim Okkuta also endorses this demand,” it added.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, “I appeal to everyone, whoever had to make their statement or remarks on the issue have already made it. Now, everyone should stop and wait for the court verdict. No one should make any statement that disturbs peace and should restrain themselves.”

The Karnataka government will take a call on reopening high schools and colleges in the state, which were shut amid the ongoing row over the wearing of the hijab, in a meeting with officials of the state education and home departments on Thursday evening, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday condemned the row over Muslim girls' rights to wear the hijab in educational institutions and said attempts are being made to inject communal venom in the minds of children.

"Our educational institutions should become a fertile ground for secularism. Instead, efforts are on to inject communal venom in the minds of the children. It is very dangerous," the Chief Minister told reporters

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai appealed to outsiders to not disturb peace and tranquillity in school campuses and in the state. “I appeal to outsiders to not disturb peace and tranquility in school campuses and in the State. It is our duty to create a peaceful atmosphere so that justice can be delivered,” Bommai said. 

The controversy over the hijab or headscarf worn by Muslim girls which escalated across India, has now reached the Supreme Court. The apex court on Thursday declined to urgently list a plea seeking transfer of the petitions from Karnataka High Court relating to Hijab row to the top court. 

The Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Ritu Raj Awasthi on Wednesday constituted a three-judge bench to look into the hijab issue on Thursday. The state Cabinet, which met earlier before the court order came in, decided to await the verdict before taking any decision on the issue which has snowballed into a major row.