Karnataka HC upholds ban on hijab in educational institutions: A timeline of events

Ahead of the verdict, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were imposed on Monday in parts of Karnataka, including Bengaluru.

Here is a timeline of all that has happened in the hijab row till now

28 December 2021: Six girls in Udupi’s Government PU College permission are denied permission to wear hijab in classrooms.

1 January 2022: The six girls of this Udupi college attend a press conference held by the Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into classrooms wearing headscarves.

5 February 2022: The girls approach the Karnataka High Court seeking relief and quashing of the government order restraining students from wearing any cloth that could disturb peace, harmony and public order.

8 February 2022: Tensions, protests between students supporting the wearing of hijabs versus students against it were reported in several parts of Karnataka. Fresh incidents of students coming to colleges wearing a hijab or saffron scarves were reported in Vijayapura, Chikkaballapur, Chikkamagaluru and Haveri districts.

Protests continued as some Hindu students turned up in saffron shawls with the issue spreading to other parts of the state, even as the government insisted on a uniform norm. Campuses see ‘conflict-like’ situations marked by stone-pelting incidents, use of force by police.

8 February 2022: Karnataka government declares a three-day holiday for educational institutions across the state.

9 February 2022: The full bench of the Karnataka High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi is constituted.

9 February 2022: Five people across the state were arrested on charges of breaching peace and harmony, mainly in Shivamogga and Bagalkot districts.

10 February 2022: Karnataka High Court gives an interim order and restrains students from wearing saffron shawls, hijab, religious flags or the like within the classroom till the final order is delivered.

22 February 2022: Karnataka’s department of primary and secondary education asks schools and colleges to create separate enclosures for female students to remove their hijab inside the campus, quoting the interim order of the Karnataka High Court.

23 February 2022:  In an oral clarification of its February 10 order, the High Court says that restrictions on wearing religious attire would apply only to state colleges where uniforms are prescribed. No written clarification is issued in this regard. The High Court also clarifies, orally again, that its February 10 order would apply only to students and not teachers.

25 February 2022:  The full bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justices Krishna S Dixit and Jaibunnisa Mohideen Khazi reserve judgment on a batch of petitions filed by Muslim girls from government pre-university colleges in Udupi district.

14 March 2022: Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were imposed in parts of Karnataka. In Bengaluru, Police Commissioner Kamal Pant issues orders prohibiting all gatherings, protests and celebrations in public places from March 15 to 21.

15 March 2022: The Karnataka High Court upholds the hijab ban and dismisses various petitions challenging the ban on headscarves in educational institutions in the state. The high court says that wearing a hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam.

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