Muslim students wearing hijab interact with a policewoman as they gather to protest at a government school in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Karnataka Bangalore News Updates: The Karnataka High Court Tuesday upheld the hijab ban and dismissed various petitions challenging a ban on scarfs in educational institutions in the state. The high court said that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam.
After the HC order, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai appealed for peace and harmony. “All students should follow the high court order and should not boycott classes or examinations. We will have to abide by the court orders and will take strict action against those who would take law and order in hands,” Bommai said.
In its interim order on February 10, the high court had restrained students from wearing wearing saffron shawls, (bhagwa) scarfs, hijab, religious flags or the like, within the classroom till the final order was delivered. Irrespective of the High Court order on Tuesday, the matter is expected to go to the Supreme Court.
Frowning upon the Karnataka High Court's decision to uphold the ban on hijab in educational institutions in the state, Congress legislator from Jharkhand Irfan Ansari once again courted controversy on Tuesday by alleging BJP is running courts which is not a good tradition.
Ansari, who is a former working president of the party's state unit, had courted controversy earlier by praising Taliban for “having done a good job by forcing the USA to leave Afghanistan”, prompting a backlash from the saffron party.
"I won't say anything on the court verdict ...BJP is running courts...This is not a good tradition," Ansari told mediapersons here. (PTI)
Pakistan on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the Karnataka High Court's ruling of banning the wearing of hijab by Muslim girls in educational institutions, claiming the decision manifestly has failed to uphold the principle of freedom to religious practices and impinges on the human rights.
“The decision manifestly has failed to uphold the principle of freedom to religious practices and impinges on human rights,” Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.
“This decision marks a fresh low in the relentless anti-Muslim campaign where even the pretext of secularism is being weaponised to target Muslims,” according to FO. (PTI)
Islamic scholars on Tuesday disagreed with the Karnataka High Court's decision not to recognise the wearing of hijab as an essential part of Islam, saying women have been asked in the Quran to "cover their head".
Akhtar-ul-Wasey, former head of the Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, told PTI that he as a teacher advocates the introduction of uniform and it should not be avoided under any pretext but "girl students may be allowed to cover their head with uniform-coloured cloth as is done by the Sikh community".
Professor Wasey said,"If there is a clear instruction for something in the Quran-e-Karim, then it is an essential part of Islam." He said in Sura-e-Noor, there is an order even for men that they should keep their eyes down. "Women cover their head during Hajj and Umrah (the journey to Mecca and Medina on normal days other than Hajj)," he said. (PTI)
President Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Maulana Mahmood Asa’d Madani, Tuesday called the Karnataka High Court’s hijab verdict “deeply disappointing.”
“This verdict will have a direct impact on religious freedom. No society is governed only by its legal nuances about issues where traditional and social values matter a lot. This verdict would have many negative implications, especially on the education of Muslim girl’s students as they would lose their right to choice and their confidence in the present communal atmosphere,’’ said Madani in his statement.
Niaz Ahmed Farooqui, secretary of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, said the verdict could be “misused in other contexts”. Esha Roy reports
The six Muslim students from the Udupi government college that banned hijabs said that their legal fight will continue. The Karnataka High Court verdict on Tuesday said that wearing a hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam.
The RSS-linked Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) on Tuesday welcomed the Karnataka High Court verdict that upheld the ban on hijab in educational institutions in the state, saying truth alone triumphs.
In a statement, the MRM said "anarchic elements and narrow-minded leaders" should now desist from "using children" to serve their self-interest.
Strict action should be taken against those who were "spreading poison" in the minds of the people and playing "a dirty politics" on the issue, it demanded. (PTI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday urged people to cooperate with the government in implementing the High Court verdict on the hijab ban, but the Muslim students who had challenged the ban vowed not to attend college until they get “justice”.
The six Muslim students of the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi, who had moved the Karnataka High Court seeking permission to wear hijab inside the classroom, said they felt betrayed by the verdict.
They also said the ruling that hijab or headscarf is “not an essential part” of the religious practice in Islam was not correct. Read more
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the Karnataka High Court's judgement backing a ban on wearing of hijabs in educational institutions should be welcomed by everybody.
In an address at an event, Singh said no country or society can develop if it does not respect women. "I can say very confidently that there cannot be development of a society or a country if there is no respect for women. India's approach towards women has traditionally been positive and progressive," he said.
"Today you have seen that the Karnataka High Court has given a judgement. I think everybody should welcome it," he said. (PTI)
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will carry out a “highly organised” election in Karnataka in 2023 and use lessons from its recent victories to retain power in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur that “principled politics can defeat caste politics” and “people have accepted Hindutva politics in a big way”, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said.
The BJP is looking to adopt similar strategies based on Hindutva, nationalism and development to regain power in Karnataka in the 2023 assembly polls, Bommai indicated during an event organised on Sunday to felicitate three state leaders — Union ministers Shobha Karandlaje and Pralhad Joshi, and BJP general secretary C T Ravi — for running a successful campaign for the party in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa respectively. Read full Political Pulse
The Belagavi police in north Karnataka have arrested three people, including a bank clerk, for allegedly robbing the Belagavi District Credit Cooperative Bank (BDCC) at Murgod last week and making away with cash and ornaments worth nearly Rs 6 crore.
The police on Sunday recovered Rs 4,20,98,400 in cash and three kilograms of gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 1,63,72,220 from a nearby sugarcane field where the robbers had buried them.
The accused have been identified as Basavraj Hunshikatti, who was a clerk in the bank, Santosh Kalappa Kambar and Yamanappa Laxman Belwal. Read more
Karnataka on Tuesday registered 129 fresh coronavirus cases and 2 fatalities thereby taking the total till date to 39,44,041 and 40,024 respectively.
There were 206 patients who got discharged and the number of recoveries were 39,01,636 so far, said a bulletin.
Of the new cases, 101 were from Bengaluru Urban, which also recorded 131 discharged and one death, the bulletin said. The number of active cases across the State was 2,341. (PTI)
Prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Tuesday expressed deep disappointment over the Karnataka High Court's decision of upholding the ban against hijab in educational institutions in the state, and said the verdict would have adverse impact on religious freedom and education of Muslim girls.
The High Court on Tuesday said hijab was not part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith and effectively upheld the ban against the headscarf in educational institutions in the state by dismissing pleas from Muslim girls seeking nod to wear it in classrooms.
Reacting to the verdict, Maulana Mahmood Madani, president, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Mahmood Madani faction) said it was "deeply disappointing" and the verdict would have a direct impact on religious freedom. (PTI)
Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday said the Karnataka High Court's verdict on the Hijab row proves that the Constitution is supreme over religion and its beliefs, while leaders of opposition parties seemed guarded in their stand in this regard.
The Karnataka High Court dismissed petitions filed by a section of Muslim students, seeking permission to wear Hijab inside the classroom.
The three-judge bench of the court consisting of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi further noted that the prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible, which the students cannot object to. (PTI)
The Karnataka High Court's verdict which dismissed pleas seeking permission to wear hijab in classroom will bring down the percentage of Muslim women seeking education, Maharashtra AIMIM chief and Aurangabad Lok Sabha MP Imitiaz Jaleel said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters, he said people must have the right to wear the clothes of their choice and called the judgment unfortunate.
"The literacy rate among Muslim women is low. After such judgments, a percentage of women from the community may refuse to go to school and college. If girls can wear jeans, skirts and shorts, then why is the hijab being disallowed," he said. (PTI)
After the Karnataka High Court dismissed petitions challenging the state government's restriction on wearing of hijab in schools and colleges, the Congress on Tuesday said the onus of ensuring education of the girl child and maintaining peace and harmony lies on the BJP government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai.
Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Karnataka government should ensure that none is allowed to vitiate the atmosphere in schools and colleges and peace is not sacrificed for BJP's agenda of polarisation on communal lines.
He said the matter is pending before the Supreme Court and all should await its verdict. (PTI)
A plea was Tuesday filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict which dismissed pleas seeking permission to wear Hijab inside the classroom, saying Hijab is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith.
The petition has been filed in the apex court by a Muslim student against the high court judgement. Earlier in the day, the high court dismissed the petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi, seeking permission to wear Hijab inside the classroom.
The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, the high court said. (PTI)
Welcoming the Karnataka High Court's verdict upholding the hijab ban, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Tuesday said that all students, irrespective of their religious beliefs, should adhere to the dress code prescribed by educational institutions.