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Karnataka CM on high court hijab ruling: 'Question of education of children'
Karnataka hijab row: The high court said that wearing of hijab is not an essential practice in Islam.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said that "everyone should follow" the high court ruling on wearing of a hijab (headscarf) in schools and colleges as his government's February 5 order was upheld by the court. It is not an essential practice to wear hijabs in Islam, the court ruled on a clutch of petitions amid protests. "Everyone should follow the court order for the benefit of children. It is a question of the fate and education of our children. Necessary arrangements have been made to maintain law and order," Bommai was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Ahead of the verdict, the state government had stepped up security and gatherings were banned in several parts, including Bengaluru, the state capital, and Udupi - where the row began late last year.
The controversy started when a couple of students in headscarves were allegedly not allowed to attend classes in Udupi in December. In the following weeks, the southern state saw protests and counter-protests - by students from the Hindu community wearing saffron shawls - before the state government had put out an order in the matter.
The court has been hearing the issue for over a month now. On February 10, it had issued an interim order, restrictring wearing religious attire in the classroom. In the last few months, the state has been witness to agitations, schools being shut down and prohibitory orders being imposed.
“We are of the considered opinion that wearing of a hijab by Muslim women does not form part of the essential religious practice in the Islamic faith," a three-judge high court bench said on Tuesday, underling the state order was not "unconstitutional".
Some students from Udupi are likely to challenge in Supreme Court now.
