The Karnataka High Court has upheld the government’s prohibition on hijabs
Image credit: Indus Scrolls
Several rallies erupted in response to the hijab debate. In a historic judgement that might have ramifications across India, a high court in the state of Karnataka declared that the headscarf is not essential to Islam.
The court also upheld a state government regulation prohibiting students from wearing headscarves in class.
The decision comes after a months-long, contentious debate over the hijab.
Protests erupted in January after a Karnataka college decided to refuse admittance to Muslim girls wearing the headscarf. The situation quickly became out of hand, and the state was forced to close schools and universities for several days.
After some Muslim female demonstrators filed petitions, claiming that India’s constitution allowed them the freedom to wear headscarves, the case made its way to the high court.
According to the three-judge panel, allowing Muslim women to wear the hijab in classrooms would impede their emancipation and go against the constitution’s “positive secularism” attitude.
The 129-page judgement uses Quranic verses and Islamic texts to argue that wearing the headscarf is not a religious requirement.
The petitioners claimed that the government’s February directive mandating uniforms in educational institutions infringed on their fundamental rights.
The decision is likely to be challenged by the Supreme Court.
The ruling has been welcomed by the Karnataka government. Thousands of people in India, where Muslims are a minority, have been watching the court proceedings with bated breath.
While considering the case, the bench issued a contentious interim order prohibiting students from wearing religious apparel, such as the hijab, until a decision was reached.
While the issue was being tried, a number of Muslim women skipped lectures and even tests. The controversy polarised public opinion, with critics perceiving it as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government’s latest move to marginalise Muslims.
A government-run college in Karnataka’s Udupi county banned six teenage students from wearing the hijab in class, igniting the controversy.
The demonstrations quickly extended across the state, which is also governed by the BJP. Some Hindu students began donning saffron shawls to class—the colour is considered a Hindu emblem—prompting officials to state that neither could be allowed on campus.
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