Karnataka HC restrains students from wearing hijab

The High Court of the Indian state of Karnataka on Thursday restrained students from wearing hijab or any religious attire till the matter is pending with the court. The next hearing will take place on Monday. 

The full bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi heard the matter after it was transferred to the larger bench on Wednesday. 

During the hearing, advocate Sanjay Hegde, while appearing for students claimed that the girls faced discrimination in their classes as they were made to stand out since December last year, Live Law reported.

The students' lawyer argued that there was no provision for a school uniform, citing the Karnataka Education Act, saying that uniforms were school phenomenon, the website quoted Hegde. 

The Advocate General while arguing for the Karnataka government said the regime wanted institutions, but schools and colleges can't start with one set of students wearing headscarves and another set wearing saffron shawls.

On Wednesday, Justice Dixit while hearing a bunch of petitions filed by Muslim girls from Udupi had said that the issues had given rise to certain constitutional questions of seminal importance.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court refrained from issuing a date for hearing on a PIL seeking transfer of the case from the Karnataka high court. The top court said let the high court take a decision first. 

The Karnataka hijab row continues to escalate across the state with protests for and against the wearing of hijab or headscarves by Muslim women students. Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai appealed to the outsiders not to disrupt peace and harmony in the state.

Protests took place in Delhi as the activists of Left student wing All India Students Association took to streets against the Karnataka government's Hijab ban order. 

The police detained AISA workers who were trying to march to the Karnataka Bhawan. 

Source: Hindustan Times