Karnataka Hijab Row: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday ruled that wearing the hijab is not an essential practice in Islam. The bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said that they considered the opinion wearing of hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of the essential religious practice in the Islamic faith. The court said it had asked itself three questions and the questions are:
- Whether the wearing of the hijab is essential religious practice under Islam
- Whether the school uniform is violative of rights
- Whether the Karnataka government order of 5th February, apart from being incompetent and violates articles 14 & 15
The court’s answers to the above questions were as follows:
- Wearing of hijab by Muslim women is not part of the essential practice in Islam
- Instruction of school uniform is a reasonable restriction that students can not object
- The government owns the power to issue an order
During the course of this hearing, the students argued wearing the hijab is an essential religious practice under Islam, and its suspension, even for a few hours, violates fundamental rights under Articles 25 and 19 of the Constitution.
The state argued that the petitioners were seeking to declare the hijab as an essential religious practice. If it is accepted, it would bind every Muslim woman to follow a particular dress code.
The row over the wearing of hijabs started in January after two government colleges in the Udupi and Mangaluru districts barred girls from entering the classroom while wearing the hijab.
