Hijab row: BJP hails Karnataka HC order

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Welcoming the judgment, senior BJP leader and former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Basic argument in favour of hijab is that wearing it is freedom of expression and it is a fundamental right. But the court prima facie has found that the same Article 19 (2) of the fundamental right also provides for reasonable restrictions. Therefore, the school norm of prescribing dress code has to be followed because that comes under reasonable restriction.”

Citing the ban on triple talaq, the permission to women to become combative officers in the Army and to fly fighter planes in the Air Force as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives for empowerment of women, Prasad said “the entire debate over hijab should also be seen in the same context.

With the party coming under severe criticism as the row over the Islamic headgear snowballed in recent weeks, the BJP’s central leadership had instructed its leaders not to make any public comments on the issue, and wait for the court order instead.

In his interviews, however, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said he personally believes all religions must adhere to the dress code in schools.

Welcoming the HC’s Tuesday judgment, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, a Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka, said it should be followed “wholeheartedly”. He said: “Students go to educational institutions to study and to acquire knowledge, irrespective of the religion they follow.”

The minister also urged political parties to refrain from politicising the issue. But his party colleague and general secretary, C T Ravi saw the judgment as a “direct slap on the face of the Congress and its ecosystem.”

“This (the judgment) vindicates our party’s stance that Equality triumphs over Appeasement. .. Congress went out of its way to provide legal help and support few students in the #HijabControversy. If only it had put in 1% of the same efforts during the 1980s and 1990s, our Kashmiri Pandits would not have been thrown out of their homeland,” he tweeted.

In Gujarat, state education Minister Jitu Vaghani said that religion and education should be kept separate. “India has a huge population and several religions. Religion should be followed by all but at the same time it should not interfere with education,” Vaghani told The Indian Express.

On whether the Karnataka order will have any implications in Gujarat, Vaghani said: “There is no question or need for any ban in Gujarat. We have our own rules for school uniforms.”

Earlier in the day, while welcoming the verdict, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister and BJP state spokesperson Narottam Mishra targeted the Congress and accused it of doing “politics of appeasement”.

“They don’t believe in the High Court verdict… when they lose elections they don’t trust EVMs… if the Army barges into Pakistan they raise questions on the Army… when Modi ji made vaccines, they doubted it.

“The hijab ban issue was raised in Karnataka keeping in mind the UP elections. Salman Khurshid and Rashid Alvi have given statements during that time. Shikshart aaiye, sevarth jaiye. Shiksha ki jagah ko rajneeti kaa mandir mat banaiye. (Come to learn, go out to serve),” he added.

He was responding to Congress MLA Arif Masood’s statement that the Karnataka HC verdict will be challenged in the Supreme court.