Hijab row: Allow girls to wear hijab on Fridays, says petitioner to Karnataka HC

Bengaluru, Feb 17: The Karnataka high court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the ongoing hijab issue for Friday at 2.30 PM.

The three-judge bench -- Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S. Dixit and Justice Khaji Jaibunnesa Mohiyuddin -- in the high court resumed hearing the case after the court was adjourned on Wednesday.

This is the fifth day of hearing by the three-judge bench.

One of the advocates suggested that she would like to mediate in the matter. To this the court said that there are constitutional issues involved. Moreover when both parties are not in agreement how can you mediate. You see if you convince the parties, then come to us, the Bench also noted.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday told the state legislative assembly that his government will abide by the High Court's interim order on the Hijab row.

On January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into the classroom by wearing hijab.

This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear hijabs in classes which was not allowed. Till then, students used to wear the hijab to the campus and entered the classroom after removing the scarves, the college principal Rudre Gowda had said.

"The institution did not have any rule on hijab-wearing as such and since no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces," Rudre Gowda had said.