The decision will further alienate Muslims in India.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KARNATAKA — After months of controversy over India’s hijab ban, the High Court of Justice Karnataka rejected a petition from a Muslim girl in Udupi asking for the right to wear the hijab in school.
The court ruled that wearing the hijab was not an essential practice of Islam and that religious freedom was subject to reasonable limits under Article 25 of the constitution. According to the court judge, students cannot protest the uniforms set by educational institutions as they are below the normal limit.
The decision was heavily criticized by Muslims, especially Muslim women on social media platforms. They believe the decision will further alienate Muslims in India.
Aliya Assadi, a 17-year-old student at a pre-university college (PU) in Udipi and one of the claimants in the headscarf controversy, was disappointed with the court’s decision. “The decision came as a surprise to us because we have high hopes and trust in the justice system,” he said. TRT World.
He added that the decision broke the hearts of Muslim girls. Students would not fight for the hijab and jeopardize their studies, Assadi said, if it were not an essential part of the Islamic religion. He will keep fighting until they get justice.
The headscarf controversy in Karnataka began in January when a public school in Udupi district banned female students wearing headscarves from attending classes. This sparked Muslim protests and a counter-process from right-wing Hindus.
After university officials issued an instruction banning headscarves in September, a petition claimed professors were discriminating against students. The women protested in January, filing a lawsuit in the Karnataka High Court to overturn their college’s decision.
