Hijab matter settled, students should focus on education: CM
Soon after the Karnataka high court upheld the ban on wearing hijab in schools and colleges, saying the entire debate on the issue should be seen from the context of women empowerment, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said everyone should abide by the verdict and cooperate with the state government in implementing it.
“I have just now got to know through the media about the high court’s order regarding the case related to uniform (in class rooms). The court has upheld the uniform and has said that hijab is not an essential religious practice,” Bommai said.
Calling for maintenance of peace and order in the society, he also asked students to focus on their education, by accepting the court verdict.
The 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 classrooms, saying the headscarf is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith.
Karnataka primary and secondary education Minister BC Nagesh said the government will try to win the hearts of the “misguided” Muslim girls who are against the move, and “bring them in the mainstream of education”.
“We will try to win the hearts of those girls who were ‘misguided’. We will try to bring them in the mainstream of education,” Nagesh told reporters.
State Congress president DK Shivakumar expressed concern about the education and law and order situation in Karnataka and appealed to the state government to show mature leadership. “My greatest concern in the hijab controversy is education and law and order. The Karnataka high court has given a judgment but the responsibility for education, law and order and communal harmony is still with the government of Karnataka,” he tweeted.
Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders hailed the high court verdict. Union minister Pralhad Joshi, who hails from Karnataka which witnessed violent protests due to the hijab row, appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony. “We welcome this judgment. The basic job of students is to study and there should be unity among students,” Joshi said.
Meanwhile, political parties in Jammu and Kashmir called the decision “deeply disappointing”, saying it was not only about religion but the freedom to choose.
“Karnataka HC’s decision to uphold the hijab ban is deeply disappointing. On one hand we talk about empowering women yet we are denying them the right to a simple choice. It isn’t just about religion but the freedom to choose,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti tweeted.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted, “Very disappointed by the verdict of the Karnataka high court. Regardless of what you may think about the hijab it’s not about an item of clothing, it’s about the right of a woman to choose how she wants to dress. That the court didn’t uphold this basic right is a travesty.”
AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the decision is a violation of the fundamental rights to freedom of religion, culture and expression.
A petition was moved in the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka high court order rejecting pleas challenging ban on hijab in the educational institutions across Karnataka.
Niba Naaz, a student filed the petition against the Karnataka high court order which stated that hijab is not an essential part of Islam, thereby underlining the Basavaraj Bommai government’s restriction on the use of headscarves by Muslim women in the educational institutions.
Shortly after the high court on announced the state government order on restrictions on wearing of hijabs in schools and colleges won’t be cancelled, Anas Tanwir, a Supreme Court lawyer, tweeted that students in Udupi college will approach the Supreme Court.
“Met my clients in Hijab matter in Udupi. Moving to SC soon InshaAllah. These girls will continue their education while exercising their rights to wear Hijab. These girls have not lost hope in Courts and Constitution (sic),” his tweet read.
The Karnataka high court ruled that “hijab is not an essential part of Islam”, in a way underlining the state government’s restriction on the use of the head scarf by Muslim girls and women in the educational institututions.
“We are of the considered opinion that wearing of a hijab by Muslim women does not form part of the essential religious practice in the Islamic faith,” Karnataka High court chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said, reading out the verdict.
The bench further said that the prescription of a school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, which the students cannot object to. Students in the contentious Udupi college will now contest the order in the Supreme Court.