The Karnataka High Court, after hearing the petitions challenging the ban on hijab in colleges, on Thursday asked students not to wear “religious things” till the disposal of the matter, even as the Supreme Court refused to list a plea urgently challenging the Karnataka government rule on dress code that created a raging controversy over wearing hijab.
A bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S. Dixit and Justice J.M. Khazi of the Karnataka High Court said that it will pass an order directing the reopening of colleges and asked students not to insist on wearing religious things till the disposal of the matter. “Peace and tranquillity must be restored,” the court said while adjourning the matter for Monday.
On Wednesday, a single bench of Justice Krishna S. Dixit of the High Court had referred the petitions filed by Muslim girl students to a larger bench while observing that important questions relating to Constitutional rights and personal law were involved. The hijab protests in the state began in January this year when some students at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district in Karnataka alleged that they had been barred from attending classes because they wore hijab. During the protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for wearing hijab.
Following this incident, students of different colleges arrived at Shanteshwar Education Trust in Vijayapura wearing saffron scarves. The situation was the same in several colleges in the Udipi district. The pre-University education board had released a circular stating that students can wear only the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious practices will be allowed in colleges.
Following these protests, a three-day holiday from 9 February was declared in all the universities under the Department of Higher Education and colleges under the Department of Collegiate and Technical Education (DCTE). On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court also appealed to the student community and the public at large to maintain peace and tranquillity while hearing various pleas challenging a ban on hijab in the state.
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli said a three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court is hearing the matter on Thursday afternoon while expressing hesitation about the apex court’s intervention at present. The bench’s observation came after senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the plea for urgent hearing of the case saying that girls are being stoned and schools and colleges are also closed in the state.
At the outset, Sibal said the petition deals with what is happening in Karnataka and it is spreading all over the county. He further said that the exams are two months away and the matter has to go before a nine-judges bench. “No, let the High Court decide. It’s too early to interfere for us. The problem is if we list, the High Court will not hear the matter. You want the matter to be transferred?” CJI said.
To this Sibal contended, “Please just list the matter, I am not asking for an order. If High Court doesn’t do anything you can then transfer the case here.” As Sibal insisted the bench to list the matter, the CJI said, “Alright. We will see.” It did not give any specific date for hearing the case.
The fresh plea was filed by Fathima Bushra, an Udupi college student, questioning the legality of the Karnataka Government Order, issued on 5 February 2022, prescribing guidelines for a dress code for both government and private schools, and pre-university colleges in the state in the light of the hijab controversy. The plea filed through advocate Javedur Rahman sought direction to the principal of Government PU College Kundapura, Udupi District to permit Bushra to physically attend her classes.
The petition urged to declare the State Government’s direction dated February 5, 2022, as “illegal and ultra vires, being in contravention of Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 21, 25 and 29 of the Constitution as well as ultra vires the provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983”.
It sought direction to quash the February 5 government order whereby the State Government has directed/backed up the college development committees to prescribe school/college uniform for the students inter-alia highlighting therein that wearing of hijab is not protected under Article 25 of the Constitution of India.
The petition stated that Bushra was left without any remedies pertaining to her continuance of education in the school when her final exams were only two months away. “Something as innocuous as wearing of a Hijab by a Muslim girl student has been turned into a communal issue of such magnitude that the State Government has had to declare the school and colleges to be shut down,” the plea stated. “A Muslim girl pursuing her education wearing a hijab/headscarf offends no right of any person and militates against no State interest. The Petitioner herein does not wear the Hijab as a form of any political symbolism or to intimidate, heckle or belittle her fellow classmates or any other person,” she stated in her plea.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavarj Bommai said: “Let us not speak anything about the dress code that would disturb peace in schools and colleges. Let us impose self-restraint to maintain peace and harmony.” He told journalists, “The issue of school uniform has been referred to a three-judge bench. Holiday has been declared for schools and colleges with an intention to avoid disturbances in schools and colleges. It is the duty of all the organisations to ensure that peace and harmony is not disturbed. Let us wait for the court verdict. In a democracy we all should respect the court order. Peace should be maintained.”
“We should be sensitive when it comes to the issues related to the children. Charges and counter charges are being made from both sides. As the High Court is seized of the matter let us wait for the judgement,” Bommai said.
In a related development, a report from Islamabad said Pakistan summoned India’s Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad over the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Foreign Office said that the Indian Charge d’Affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was conveyed the government’s “grave concern and condemnation on the deeply reprehensible act” of banning Muslim students from wearing hijab in Karnataka, Daily Pakistan reported on Thursday. “The charge d’ affaires was urged to convey to the Government of India, Pakistan’s extreme concern over the anti-hijab campaign, being spearheaded by RSS-BJP combine in Karnataka, which is part of its larger exclusionist and majoritarian agenda aimed at dehumanizing and demonizing Muslim women,” Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement, ARY News reported.