Won't leave Hijab, will challenge verdict legally, say Udupi student petitioners

"If the hijab was not necessary, we would not have worn it and we wouldn't have been fighting for it," the girls say.

Udupi:Hours after the Karnataka High Court upheld the state government's ban on wearing of Hijab in schools and colleges on Tuesday, the student petitioners from Udupi said that they will not go to college without Hijab and will continue to fight for their rights legally till they get "justice".

"We had believed in the High Court and the system however the verdict is against us," one of the petitioners said. "We had approached the High Court seeking permission to wear hijab in the classrooms. The order has come against us. We will not go to the college without hijab but we will fight for it. We will try all the legal ways. We will fight for justice and our rights," the girls said in a press conference in this coastal town.

If the hijab was not necessary, the girls said, "we would not have worn it and we wouldn't have been fighting for it." They added that they needed both education and Hijab, and nobody should ask them to choose one. "We fill fight for Hijab. We will fight for our constitutional rights. The Hijab row has been communalized for political gain. Religion and education are very important to us," said the pro-Hijab activists.

"B.R. Ambedkar has drafted the constitution. He would have been in tears today if he had survived," the girls said. "We follow our Quran. We do not have to follow a government order. We should be allowed to write tests wearing hijab," one of the girls added. "We are in a secular country where respect for religions is paramount," she said.

Meanwhile, a plea has been filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict which dismissed the petitions seeking permission to wear Hijab inside the classroom, saying Hijab is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith. The petition has been filed in the apex court by Niba Naaz, who had also filed the plea in the High court against the Karnataka government's order.

READ:Hijab verdict: Will move SC, say petitioners; students boycott exams