Karnataka Hijab Row: Advocate General Says “Hijab Is Not Essential Religious Practice Of Islam”
Over the last few weeks, the Karnataka hijab row has blown up and shaken us all up. It has also got the conversation going around women’s rights to wear what they want. A controversy that started with one college barring students from wearing hijabs on college campuses went on to intensify and become a bigger issue after other colleges began doing the same. But what made it worse was the other group of saffron shawl clad people who began anti-hijab protests. Amid this chaos, petitions were filed in the High Court challenging the hijab ban in colleges across the state. And we’ve heard some rather ridiculous statements from prominent figures across the nation but imagine something like that coming right from the centre of the row, the court. Well, you guessed it, that’s exactly what happened.
In a recent update from the Karnataka High Court, the Advocate General representing the state in the case contended that wearing a hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam. He went on to add that the hijab ban in colleges does not violate the constitutional right to practice the religious freedom of the students. “We have taken a stand that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious part of Islam,” said Advocate General of Karnataka, Prabhuling Navadgi, as quoted by NDTV. The petitions are being heard by a bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice JM Khazi and Justice Krishna M Dixit.
The Karnataka AG claimed that the order passed on February 5 which banned religious clothing was not unlawful. He further added that the government issued order has nothing to do with the hijab and is ‘innocuous in nature’. He went on to state that educational institutes have the power to decide whether they want to allow hijab on campus or not. “Conscious stand of the state is that we do not want to intervene in religious matter. We could have said the hijab was against secularism and order and could have said it is not permissible. We have not. It is a stated stand of the state we did not want to intervene,” said the Advocate General. Speaking further about the Karnataka hijab row, the top lawyer admitted that the government order could have been ‘worded better’ in the parts that talk about the clothes being ‘in consonance with unity and equality’.
Also Read: Karnataka Hijab Row: BJP MP Pragya Thakur Says Women Don’t Need To Wear Hijab In India
For the unversed, the educational institutes set a dress code citing a circular issued by the Karnataka government which directed them to maintain uniformity in the college dress code this academic year. The circular was aimed at maintaining ‘social harmony and uphold Constitutional values’. Soon after the circular was issued, the educational institutes began banning hijab on campus which led to protests and the Karnataka hijab row.
