Hijab row: Muslim students being asked to choose between faith and education, says petitioner

Bengaluru, Feb 16: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday deferred the hearing on Hijab petitions to tomorrow.

Senior Advocate Ravivarma Kumar, appearing for the petitioners challenging the ban on hijab, submitted before Karnataka High Court that discrimination against Muslim girls is purely based on religion.

Mentioning that Hindu girls wearing bangles and Christian girls wearing cross are not sent out, the senior advocate asked why the government was picking on hijab alone. Kumar submitted that no other religious symbol was considered in the impugned government order.

"Why only hijab? Is it not because of their religion?" he questioned and further added that discrimination against Muslim girls is purely based on religion.

Advocate Kumar said that the state education Act said that when an educational institution intends to change uniform, it has to issue notice one year in advance to parents. He argued that if there is a ban on hijab then it should have been informed one year in advance.

He also said that there are no provisions under the Karnataka Education Act nor rules of a ban on wearing a hijab. The Court remarked that there are no provisions for carrying the Kirpan or anything which is objectionable to the classroom. The Court said that because these are not mentioned in the Act need not mean it might be permitted.

The Hijab row started in December end when a few students started coming to the government pre-university college in Udupi wearing Hijab. To protest against it, some Hindu students turned up wearing saffron scarves. The row spread to other educational institutions in different parts of the State, and the protests took a violent turn at some place earlier this week.