Hijab row: Requests student community and public at large to maintain peace and tranquility, K'taka HC

Mangaluru, Feb 08: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday urged students & public at large to maintain peace & tranquility while the hearing in the Hijab case. It will continue hearing the case against state's order tomorrow.

The latest petition has been filed by two Muslim students pursuing BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) at Bhandarkar College of Art and Science in Kundapura against the Hijab ban in colleges, the third such petition to be filed in this regard before the High Court.

All the three petitions will be heard by the Bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit at the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday.

Earlier a student of the girl's pre-university college in Udupi district has moved the Karnataka High Court with a prayer to allow the right to wear a hijab' (headscarf) inside the classroom.

The writ petition was filed on behalf of the student Resham Farooq, represented by her brother Mubarak Farooq.

The petitioner states that the students' right to wear a hijab is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 14 and 25 of the Constitution and is an essential practice of Islam.

The petitioner also seeks to permit her and fellow students to attend classes wearing hijab without any interference from the college administration.

In the petition, it is stated that the college at Udupi has denied entry to eight students who practice and profess the Islamic faith. These students were denied their fundamental right to education as they were wearing a hijab.

The actions of the college administration are unconstitutional, arbitrary and exclusionary in nature, the petition claimed.

Shtahabish Shivanna, Arnav A Bagalwadi and Abhishek Janardhan are appearing for the petitioner. The first hearing is expected to be held by the end of this week.

Udupi MLA and college development committee president K Raghupati Bhat, who met the students at the college who are protesting for the right to wear hijab, had on Monday categorically said that students with headscarf will not be allowed inside classrooms as per the decision of the education department.