Karnataka HC adjourns Hijab row to Monday, calls for reopening of educational institutes

The three-member HC bench hearing the hijab row today directed the Karnataka government to reopen schools and colleges immediately and maintain status quo while adjourning the case to Monday, February 15.

Bengaluru:The three-member HC bench hearing the hijab row today directed the Karnataka government to reopen schools and colleges immediately and maintain status quo while adjourning the case to Monday, February 15. The bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said "closure of schools is not a good development. Take necessary action and conduct classes. See to it that no problem surfaces," he said.

The three-judge bench included the Chief Justice, and Justices Krishna S. Dixit, Khaji Jaibunnesa Mohiyuddin. "We want to make an interim order on the matter of hijab row. We will hear the matter every day," the Chief Justice stated. Peace has to return to the state, and schools and colleges must open soon, the bench said, adjourning the matter to Monday.

The Court ordered that no religious symbols are allowed for the students until its final order, thus putting an end to the use of both hijab and saffron shawls in the school and college premises until its final order. "We will pass an order, that let the institutions start but till the matter is pending here, no student should insist on wearing religious dress," the Chief Justice said.

The bench started hearing the matter at 2:30 pm today. The hearing started with Chief Justice asking for a short account of the case. Upon hearing it, Chief Justice requested the "media not to report any observation made by the court" and asked them to report after seeing the order that will be passed.

"We will request the media, in general, please don't report any observation made by the court during arguments without seeing the order which we will pass ultimately. In social media, newspaper, or anywhere else, please don't report unless you go through the order," said Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi.

The row started in Udupi last month when a principal had an issue with students wearing hijab and banned them from entering the college. The petitioners had said that Udupi BJP MLA Raghupathy Bhat is illegally interfering in the activities of the college and had been made a party in the case.

READ:Karnataka bans gatherings, protests near colleges, schools for two weeks amid Hijab-Saffron row

What started in a pre-University college in Udupi has now snowballed into a controversy that is being taken to national and international spaces. A group of Muslim girls complained of facing discrimination at the hands of their principal for wearing Hijab. They were told to not wear Hijab if they want to enter the college. Students did not give in to the pressure and started protesting the principal's decision.

Soon, Hijab-clad students in few other colleges also started facing similar issues. These students were told, not in so many words, to not wear Hijab if they want to enter college. As their voices started growing louder, students from a Shivamogga college wore saffron shawls to protest their hijab wearing counterparts.

The tiff eventually spilled over as more colleges started imposing a ban on Hijab. One of the colleges, in fact, made the Hijabi students sit in a separate classroom with no one to teach them. Karnataka Education Minister asked students to wear only unifom to the college said "Students wearing hijabs and saffron shawls will not be permitted to enter".

It is at this juncture that Karnataka HC Justice Krishna S. Dixit started hearing the plea by the college students, who sought to be allowed into the colleges with their hijabs, and directions to the government to not interfere with their religious and fundamental rights.

Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, the counsel for the petitioners, had remarkably asked on the first day of the hearing: "How can a girl wearing a headscarf to school become a public order issue?"

Meanwhile, hundreds of All India Students Association (AISA) members started protesting in support of the Hijab-clad girls, outside the Karnataka Bhawan located in Chanakyapuri, Delhi. he Hijab controversy.

Asserting on their right to wear hijab, the students said "Is wearing hijab hurting anyone? Do wearing a skirt instead bring gender equality? If so, then boys and girls should be seated wearing skirts".

The students were forcibly detained or chased away by the Delhi police who arrived at the spot.

READ:Somebody going after 'hijab' or 'topi' is really shocking: Madras HC