Hijab case: Bommai says nothing more important than education, respect HC’s order

Team Udayavani, Mar 15, 2022, 11:50 AM IST

Bengaluru: Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday, March 15 requested everyone in the state to respect the Karnataka High court’s order on the Hijab row.

Addressing presspersons after the Hijab case verdict was delivered, Bommai said, “Nothing is more important than education. I request everyone to respect and follow the court’s order.”

“I also request people not to disturb peace and order in the state,” he said.

The Karnataka High court on Tuesday dismissed the petition challenging the Hijab ban while stating that it is not an essential religious practice.

Upholding the ban on Hijab in educational institutions, the Bench noted that prescription of uniform is a reasonable restriction on fundamental rights.

The case seeking permission to allow Muslim girls to attend classes in schools and pre-university colleges where there is a prescribed school uniform had led to tension on the campuses of educational institutions in the state.

According to the lawyers appearing for the petitioner girls from Udupi district, the matter pertaining to Hijab case has been listed for Tuesday as serial No. 1 and the court may spell out the operative part of the verdict from 10.30 am onwards.

The full bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi was constituted on February 9 on a petition filed by Muslim girls from Udupi who prayed that they should be allowed to wear Hijab even inside the classroom along with the school uniform as it was part of their faith.

On January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by the Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into classrooms wearing headscarves.

This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear hijab in classes which was not allowed. Till then, students used to wear the headscarf to the campus, but entered the classroom after removing it, college principal Rudre Gowda had said.

“The institution did not have any rule on hijab-wearing since no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces,” Gowda had said.

As the issue of Hijab versus saffron scarves spread to several educational institutions in many parts of Karnataka, the state government announced holiday from February 9 to February 15 in all the pre-university colleges and from February 9 to February 16 in degree and diploma colleges.

The girls then approached the Karnataka High Court seeking relief and quashing the government order on February 5 restraining students from wearing any cloth that could disturb, peace, harmony and public order.

The full bench of the High Court has been hearing the case on a day-to-day basis since February 10.