News Analysis India

Tag: Islamic attire

  • Karnataka hijab row: Petitioners’ counsel concludes arguments in HC, govt to argue on Friday

    By Express News Service

    BENGALURU: The Karnataka government will submit its arguments before the Karnataka High Court with regard to the hijab issue on Friday, as the arguments of the counsels of a batch of petitions questioning the ban of hijab in colleges concluded on Thursday. 

    When the arguments of the counsels of the petitioners-students concluded before the full bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi, the Advocate General Prabhuling K Navadagi submitted that he will argue on Friday. 

    During the hearing, Dr Vinod G Kulkarni, a consulting neuropsychiatrist from Hubballi, argued on his own with regard to filing public interest litigation filed by him, that the hijab issue has created mass hysteria and disturbed minds of all, particularly Muslim students. Therefore, Muslim girl students be permitted to wear hijab on Fridays and ensuing Ramzan, to guard the mental health, he pleaded.  

    Before this, the court dismissed a petition filed by Arif Jameel, a social activist from the city against the hijab ban on the ground that it is not maintainable, as the rules made for filing public interest litigations are not followed. 

    Meanwhile, the court also permitted the counsel to withdraw the petition filed by five students from private educational institutions in city on the ground that the impugned government order likely to be affected, as cause of action was not mentioned, with liberty to file a fresh plea with full details. 

    The court made it clear that it will allow the intervenors for arguing on the issue, if their assistance is necessary, after the arguments of the counsels of the petitioners as well as state government is concluded.  

  • Hijab row: PIL in SC seeks implementation of common dress code for equality

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court on Saturday in the wake of the Karnataka ‘hijab’ row and it seeks a direction to the Centre, states, and union territories to implement a common dress code for staffers and students in registered educational institutions for securing equality and promoting fraternity and national integration.

    On Friday, other cases pertaining to the ‘hijab’ controversy were mentioned for urgent hearing before the top court, which took note of the pendency before the three-judge bench in the Karnataka High Court, and said it would protect the Constitutional rights of every citizen and take up cases at an “appropriate time”.

    The high court, in an interim order, meanwhile, asked the state government to reopen educational institutions and restrained students from wearing saffron shawls, scarves, hijab, and any religious flag within the classroom in institutions that have prescribed a student dress code or uniform.

    It is scheduled to resume hearing on February 14.

    The fresh PIL, which has been filed by Nikhil Upadhyay through lawyers Ashwini Upadhyay and Ashwani Dubey in the apex court, also sought a direction to the Centre to set up a judicial commission or an expert panel to suggest steps for inculcating values of “social and economic justice, socialism secularism and democracy and to promote fraternity dignity unity and national integration among the students”.

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    “Alternatively, being the custodian of the Constitution and protector of fundamental rights, direct the Law Commission of India to prepare a report suggesting steps to secure social equality and to promote fraternity dignity unity and national integration within three months,” it said.

    Besides the Centre, states and the union territories, the PIL has made the Law Commission a party and sought a direction to respondent authorities “to strictly implement a Common Dress Code for staff and students in all the registered and recognized educational institutions in order to secure equality of status and social equality and to promote fraternity dignity unity national integration”.

    It referred to certain protests held in the national capital on February 10 against the ‘hijab’ curbs in Karnataka.

    “Educational institutions are secular public places and are meant to impart knowledge and wisdom employment, good health and contribute to nation-building, not to follow essential and non-essential religious practices,” the PIL said.

    “It is very essential to introduce a Common Dress Code in all schools-colleges to preserve the secular character of educational institutions, otherwise tomorrow Naga Sadhus may take admission in colleges and attend the class without clothes citing essential religious practice,” it said.

    The common dress code is not only necessary to maintain uniformity but also to instill a sense of camaraderie among students from different caste, creed, faith, religion, culture, and place, the plea said.

    It referred to the dress code in countries like the US, the UK, France, Singapore, and China and said, “according to a survey, around 2,50,000 guns were brought in schools and colleges in 2018. So, having a Common Dress Code that requires a student’s beltline exposed reduces the fear of a concealed weapon.”

    The controversy started towards the end of December when a few women students in hijabs were denied entry into a government pre-university college in Udupi.

    As a counter, 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 places earlier this week, prompting the government on Tuesday to declare a three-day holiday for the institutions.