Hijab row resurfaces in Karnataka: Muslim students in Mangaluru seek permission to wear hijab in classrooms

Some Muslim students in Mangaluru have sought permission to wear hijab in their classrooms.

Mangaluru: The Hijab controversy seems to have resurfaced in the southern state of Karnataka after some Muslim students of University College in Managluru visited Deputy Commissioner`s office and submitted a memorandum seeking permission to wear hijab in classrooms, said ANI.

This happened days after the degree college issued a ban on hijab or a headscarf inside the campus on May 16. 

"Nothing had happened after the court verdict, we wrote exams peacefully. But we received an unofficial note recently to attend classes without a hijab. We went to the principal, with HC`s order and tried to speak with him. He said that he was helpless. VC said the same," said Fathima, a student.

Students at Mangalore University College staged a protest on the campus on Thursday against wearing Hijab in classrooms. The students condemned the college for failing to implement the Karnataka High Court’s order on Hijab within educational institutions.

Hijab protests in Karnataka took place in January-February this year when some students of Government Girls PU college in the Udupi district of the state alleged that they had been barred from attending classes for wearing hijab. 

During the protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for wearing hijab. The Karnataka hijab protest soon spread to other states and the matter went to the high court. 

Stating that "wearing hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam'' and freedom of religion under Article 25 of the Constitution is subject to reasonable restrictions, a full bench of the Karnataka High Court on March 16 dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Muslim girls studying in pre-university colleges in Udupi seeking the right to wear hijabs in classrooms.

The Court also upheld an order issued on February 5 by the state, which suggested that wearing hijabs can be restricted in government colleges where uniforms are prescribed - and ruled that "prescription of a school uniform" is a "reasonable restriction" that is "Constitutionally permissible".

“We are of the considered opinion that the prescription of a school uniform is a reasonable restriction Constitutionally permissible, which the students cannot object to,” said the full bench also comprising Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi.

“We are of the considered opinion that the government has the power to issue the impugned government order dated February 5, 2022, and no case is made out for its invalidation,” the full bench stated.

The high court also directed a “speedy and effective” police probe into the alleged role of “unseen hands” that may have been “at work to engineer social unrest and disharmony” amid protests over the hijab issue in the state last month.

The court also ruled that no case is made out for initiating disciplinary action against government college authorities in Udupi for barring girls from attending classes with the hijab.

(With Agency Inputs)