‘If Ambedkar were alive, he’d be crying’, says hijab petitioner as state hails ‘historic’ HC order

By: ANUSHA RAVI SOOD

Karnataka HC has held hijab is not integral part of religious practice in Islam & upheld govt order banning religious clothing in classrooms. Students are preparing to appeal SC against the order.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court’s verdict on the hijab ban has left Muslim organisations in the state disappointed. On Tuesday, a three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court held that the hijab (headscarf) was not an integral part of religious practice in Islam and upheld a government order banning religious clothing in classrooms.

While advocates for students who had petitioned the HC against the ban are preparing to appeal against the HC verdict in the Supreme Court, the Karnataka government has requested students to “adhere to the order” and return to classrooms.

Addressing the media hours after the HC verdict was announced, the petitioners — students of Udupi Women’s PU (pre-university) College — lashed out against the verdict and alleged that the issue had been given political colour.

“We had huge expectations from the courts, our Constitution and our country. If Dr B.R. Ambedkar were alive today he would have been crying looking at the Constitution,” Aliya Assadi, one of the student-petitioners told the media.

The students alleged that the hijab row could have been resolved at the college level, but was given political and communal overtones.

“Now thousands of students have been deprived of their right to wear the hijab and attend classes. We wouldn’t have been fighting so hard if the hijab was not an essential religious practice. The court is wrong in stating that hijab isn’t intrinsic to Islam,” Aliya added.

The students added that they would hold discussions with their legal team on grounds of challenge before taking the next legal step.

The demand for the right to wear hijab by Muslim students and counter-protests against it by Hindu organisations, had taken a violent turn in Karnataka in February, forcing district administrations of various districts to bring in prohibitory orders and close down schools and colleges.

Following Tuesday’s HC verdict, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai appealed to students to return to colleges. “High Court has upheld uniform and said hijab is not an essential religious practice. This is a question of our children’s future and education. Nothing is more important than education for children. The three-judge bench order should be followed and we must implement it and everyone should cooperate and maintain peace,” Bommai added.

Primary and Secondary education minister of Karnataka B.C. Nagesh too insisted that flaws and confusions in the Karnataka Education Act will be remedied on the basis of the High Court’s order.

“For years we have known that a uniform is helpful in bringing a nationalist mindset among students. Uniform is prescribed to ensure children get a sense of being citizens of this country. Girl students who were misguided will be counseled. We request that they come back to schools-colleges and continue their education,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra claimed the HC order to be “historic”. “This order has upheld the rights of education for girl students,” Jnanendra told reporters, while appealing for peace in the aftermath of the verdict.

The home minister’s words were echoed by the state’s Advocate General Prabhuling Navadgi, who too called the verdict “historic”, and said that “the court has held that institutional discipline prevails over individual choice”.

Muslims organisations disappointed

The High Court verdict, however, came as “deeply disappointing” for Muslim organisatons. “We are deeply hurt by the Court’s misunderstanding of hijab as being non-essential to Islam. This verdict will adversely affect thousands of Muslim girl students studying for a better future. The court’s order is a blow to our children, but we have not lost our confidence in the judiciary,” Ibrahim Sahib Kota, President of Udupi Muslim Okkuta — an umbrella organisation of all Muslim organisatons in Udupi, told The Print.

The students who were the petitioners in this case are students of Udupi Women’s PU (pre university) College, and have already begun the process of appealing against the HC verdict in the Supreme Court.

“The High Court has held that wearing hijab does not constitute essential religious practice that is protected under Article 25 or under freedom of expression 19 (1) (A) of the Constitution. We have to understand the reasoning they have provided and take our next step,” Abhishek Janardhan, advocate for one of the petitioners said.

Meanwhile, the Campus Front of India — the student wing of the Islamic outfit Popular Front of India — which had been assisting the petitioners in their legal fight, has termed the verdict a denial of Constitutional rights. “Karnataka HC denies the Constitutional rights of the citizens. We never accept the verdict that stands against the Constitution and will continue the fight against attempts to suppress individual rights. We appeal to the secular-minded to join this Constitutional fight,” said CFI President, M.S. Sajid, tweeted Thursday.

Anticipating trouble over the HC verdict, prohibitory orders have been clamped in various districts of Karnataka with schools and colleges being shut in at least six districts.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)

Also read: ‘Hijab not an essential religious practice in Islamic law,’ says Karnataka HC, upholds ban