What`s the problem if one wears hijab?: Owaisi decries Karnataka HC order on headscarf ban

Asaduddin Owaisi said the Karnataka High Court judgment violates fundamental rights like freedom of religion, culture, expression and asked what is the problem if anyone wears a hijab.

New Delhi: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday (March 15) decried the Karnataka High Court’s order on upholding the hijab ban in schools and colleges. 

Owaisi said the judgment violates fundamental rights and asked what is the problem if anyone wears a hijab. “Judgment (Hijab row) violates fundamental rights like freedom of religion, culture, expression & Art.15. It'll have negative impact on Muslim women, they'll be targeted. Modernity is not about eschewing religious practices. What's the problem if one wears hijab,” ANI quoted the Hyderabad MP as saying.

In a series of tweets, Owaisi said the HC order has “forced kids to choose between education and Allah’s command”. 

"For Muslims it`s Allah`s command to be educated while also following his strictures (salah, hijab, roza, etc). Now govt is forcing girls to choose. So far judiciary has declared masjids, keeping a beard & now hijab as non-essential. What is left of free expression of beliefs?," the AIMIM chief asked. 

The Hyderabad MP said that imposing a ban on hijab “harms devout Muslim women and their families as it prevents them from accessing education”. "The excuse being used is that uniform will ensure uniformity. How? Will kids not know who`s from a rich/poor family? Do caste names not denote background?" he added. 

Dismissing petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi, the Karnataka High Court announced that the headscarf is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith. 

"We are of the considered opinion that wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith," a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, and also comprising of Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi, said. 

The HC order has received mixed reactions across the political spectrum with BJP hailing it, whereas Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah slamming the judgment. 

(With agency inputs)