Students protest against Karnataka high court ruling on hijab ban
“We will continue the fight. #HijabisMyRight,” read the poster of a student from Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College in Ujjire in Dakshina Kannada, about 90 km from Udupi district, the epicentre of the original protests by students seeking to wear the hijab.
Muslim students from several parts of Karnataka on Wednesday took to the streets to protest the Karnataka high court order restricting the wearing of the hijab in educational institutions, deeming it not an “essential religious practice” in Islam.
“We will continue the fight. #HijabisMyRight,” read the poster of a student from Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College in Ujjire in Dakshina Kannada, about 90 km from Udupi district, the epicentre of the original protests by students seeking to wear the hijab.
‘Hijab Ban is unconstitutional hence unacceptable,” read another placard held by a student in Thumbe town in Dakshina Kannada. A third read: “High court didn’t provide justice, but just a verdict”.
Similar protests were seen across Karnataka.
“We want education and hijab. That is all. We have exams on (March) 24 but they (the schools) are not taking classes at all. We don’t know what to write for these exams. It’s not that we do not want to go. We will go but we need the hijab,” said a bunch of at least 10 students in Karnataka’s Hassan district.
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The protests came a day after a three-judge bench comprising chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, justice Krishna S Dixit and justice JM Khazi delivered a 129-page verdict in the contentious case. The petitioners have now approached the Supreme Court.
In December 2021, at least eight Muslim students of Government Girls Pre-University College in Udupi were stopped from entering class wearing the hijab. On January 1, the college development committee (CDC) passed an order banning the hijab inside campuses.
By February, as controversy spread across the state, there were counter protests with some students wearing saffron shawls.
While the issue was first raised in Udupi’s government college, its impact has been felt across the state’s educational institutions. Many students have since been forced to choose between religion or education.
The Muslim Okkuta, an umbrella organisation, on Wednesday said that the HC order on the Hijab was “dangerous”. “The HC has said that Purdah is not part of the basic order of Islam. This is against the Quran, Hadees and the entire Muslim and Islamic history. We are sad about this,” Maulana Abdul Lateef Madani, a member of the organisation said in Udupi on Wednesday.
The six original petitioners on Tuesday called the HC order as “unconstitutional” and “wrong”, adding to the growing angst against them.
Shopkeepers reportedly from the Muslim community in Karnataka’s Bhatkal town on Wednesday shut all businesses in protest against the high court verdict on the hijab. The high court, while dismissing a batch of petitions, ruled that wearing a hijab is not an essential practice of Islam and upheld a state government order on a uniform in educational institutions.
The Bhatkal town, about 90 kms from Udupi, wore a deserted look as the majority of the shops pulled down their shutters. “People have voluntarily closed down shops for a day. People from the Muslim community have shut down shops,” Dr Haneef Shobab, a prominent doctor from the region, said.
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“The order that came from Karnataka HC, we feel it was an interference with our religion and our sentiments are hurt. To express this, we have voluntarily have closed shops to do a symbolic protest,” he added.
“There are about 300-350 shops owned by Muslims all of them closed their shops,” Quamruddin Mashayad, a chicken shop owner, told HT.
The police in Bhatkal have filed cases against Popular Front of India (PFI) for allegedly attempted to close shops by force, IANS reported on Wednesday. Reports indicated that cases filed charges under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and 290 (public nuisance) of the Indian Penal Code. The activist who were booked were Azeem Ahmad, Mohiddeen Abeer, Shareek and advocate Taimur Hussain Gawayi.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the constituency said that the bandh was enforced by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). “SDPI has enforced the Bandh by force. Yesterday they tried to do it but were unable to, so they have gone ahead today,” Sunil Nayak, the BJP MLA from Bhatkal, said.
The SDPI has denied the charges. “They (BJP) have no other work. Summer season has started and we do not have water in rural areas and instead of thinking about these, they are talking about us. The Bandh was a decision taken by all Muslim organisations. There was nothing forceful. Those who were not satisfied, not only Muslims, all Indians, they have expressed their protest without violence, they have closed their establishments,” Abrar Ahmed, a SDPI officer bearer told HT.