Hijab verdict: Maintain peace and harmony, Karnataka CM appeals to public

Bengaluru, Mar 15: Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday appealed to people to maintain peace and harmony, following the High Court's order upholding Hijab ban in Karnnataka.

Responding to the verdict, CM Bommai said, "Everyone should follow court order for benefit of children. It is a question of fate & education of our children. Necessary arrangements have been made to maintain law and order."

Karnataka education minister BC Nagesh said, "The uniform is there just to ensure all students feel equal, so no inferiority or superiority complex arises among the young minds of the country."

Meanwhile, Union minister Pralhad Joshi also welcomed the Court's decision. "I appeal to everyone that the state and country have to go forward, everyone has to maintain peace by accepting the order of HC. The basic work of students is to study. So, leaving all this aside, they should study and be united," he said.

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi, seeking permission to wear Hijab inside the classroom.

The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, a three-judge bench of the court further noted.

"We are of the considered opinion that wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith," Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi who headed the full bench of the High Court said reading out portion of the order.

The other two judges in the panel were Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi. The bench also maintained that the government has power to issue impugned government order dated February 5, 2022 and no case is made out for its invalidation.