Eyes on K'taka HC as hijab row persists across state

All eyes are now on the Karnataka high court which will be hearing the petition over the 'hijab' row on Tuesday, as the controversial issue refuses to die down across the state.

A section of Muslim girls are adamant on wearing headscarves to college, while the state government has cracked the whip making uniforms mandatory for students attending classes in educational institutions.

There have been several instances during the last few days, especially in coastal Karnataka, where some Muslim girl students, turning up in hijab, were not being allowed into classes, and Hindu boys responding with saffron shawls, also being barred from classes.

The hijab row has also taken a political colour, as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has stood strongly in support of uniform-related rules being enforced by educational institutions, calling the headscarf, a religious symbol, while the opposition Congress has come out in support of protesting Muslim girls.

The issue that initially began in January at a Government PU College in Udupi where six students who attended classes wearing headscarves in violation of the stipulated dress code were sent out, has spread to a few other colleges in the city and in nearby Kundapur and Byndoor.

There have also been reports of similar instances of students turning up at educational institutions with either hijab or saffron shawl in Ramdurg PU College in Belagavi and a college in Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga, and also a group of girls staging demonstration in Mysuru and Kalaburagi in favour of the hijab.

A Muslim girl student who was not allowed to attend class for wearing hijab in Kundapur said, "We are not here for staging any protest or agitation, we are only demanding our right...hijab is our right. We are only asking to let us attend the classes with it, like we used to attend earlier. If we are suddenly asked to remove our hijab, how can we do it?"

Another girl student claimed that hijab was a priority for Muslim girls, as it is a sign of their modesty. "How can someone ask us to keep away our modesty... Are we saying those wearing saffron shawls should not wear it? Both hijab and studies are equally important for us. We want to complete our education while wearing hijab."

On the other hand, male Hindu students at a Udupi college said, if the institution allows Muslim women to wear hijab, they will also come wearing a saffron shawl.

"If hijab is allowed, then the uniform dress code has to be removed, there can't be one rule for them (Muslims) and one rule for us (Hindus). If there is a uniform, it should be the same for everyone," he said.

Another student said that with the government order in place now, Muslim girls staging a protest near college campus is not right. "It is causing a lot of inconvenience and problems for other students, who are attending classes by following the rules."

Meanwhile, a member of the School Development Monitoring Committee of Kundapur government college, for which holiday was declared on Saturday, stated that they have decided not to allow students wearing either hijab or saffron shawls to attend classes.

"If students come with hijab or saffron shawl against rules, they will be allowed inside college premises and will be made to sit in a designated classroom, but will not be allowed to attend regular class," he said, pointing out that hijab-clad girls standing outside college gate had become a national headline.

The Karnataka high court on February 8 will hear the petitions filed by five girls studying in a Government Pre-University College in Udupi, questioning hijab restriction in college.

However, with the row spreading to other educational institutions and ahead of the matter coming before the high court, the Karnataka government on Saturday evening issued an order making uniforms prescribed by it or managements of private institutions mandatory for its students at schools and pre-university colleges across the state.

In case a uniform is not prescribed by management committees, it has been ordered that students should wear dresses that go well with the idea of equality and unity, and does not disturb the social order, it said.

Citing verdicts by Supreme Court and various high courts, the government said, asking students not to come to schools wearing 'headscarf' or covering their head, is not in violation of Article 25 of the Constitution, and after examining the rules framed under the Karnataka Education Act 1983, the order has been issued.

The order making uniform mandatory came, even as the government has already directed the educational institutions to follow existing uniform-related rules, citing the Karnataka Education Act and rules, until the court comes out with its order in this regard.

Meanwhile, a political slugfest has erupted between ruling BJP and opposition Congress over the issue.

Throwing his weight behind Muslim girls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: "By letting students' hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn't differentiate."

Congress legislature party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, accused the BJP and RSS of trying to create communal disharmony throughout the state in the name of hijab, and claimed that the main agenda of the Sangh Parivar was to deny education to Muslim girls in the name of hijab.

"The Constitution has given the right to practice any religion which means one can wear any clothes according to their religion. Prohibiting hijab-wearing students from entering school is a violation of fundamental rights," he said.

On the other side, alleging "hidden hands" behind the hijab controversy as attempts are on to make it an international news, Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh said, "Some people who are against this country, as part of a propaganda, are doing this. They are unable to digest India's standing globally and the respect our Prime Minister is getting internationally."

The ruling BJP's state president and Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel said the government will not allow hijab at educational institutions and will take strict measures to ensure that things go as per rules of the school, and won't let things become "Taliban like".