The Karnataka High Court has dismissed petitions challenging the ban on hijab in educational institutions. The court said that wearing the hijab is not a necessary religious practice in Islam. The court said that the application of school uniform is a reasonable restriction to which the student cannot object.
Union Minister Prahlad Joshi welcomed the High Court’s decision on the Hijab controversy. He said, “I appeal to all the people to take the country and the state forward. We all have to maintain an atmosphere of peace. The basic work of the students is to study and acquire knowledge. Everyone should study together.”
The demand of some girl students of a pre-university college in Udupi to wear hijab in classes sparked a controversy when some Hindu students arrived wearing saffron shawls. The issue spread to other parts of the state while the government stuck to the uniform rule.
A bench of High Court Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Kazi was constituted on a plea by Udupi girls. These girls had demanded that they be allowed to wear hijab along with school uniform in classes as it is part of their religious belief.
On January 1, six girls from a college in Udupi participated in a press conference organized by the Campus Front of India (CFI). It was organized against the college administration preventing these girls from attending classes in hijab.