The Karnataka government on Wednesday restrained students studying in schools and colleges managed by the state Minority Welfare Department from wearing hijabs, saffron scarves and religious flags until further orders, PTI reported.
P Manivannan, secretary of Minority Welfare, Hajj and Wakf Department, in a circular stated that the Karnataka High Court in its interim order has barred the students of the state from wearing “religious clothes” in schools and colleges until it decides on petitions challenging the hijab ban in educational institutes.
On February 10, the court had stated that while all citizens have the right to profess and practice any faith, it is subject to reasonable restrictions under the Constitution. The order added that the matter as to whether wearing a hijab in a classroom is an essential religious practice of Islam needs a deeper examination.
“The above High Court order is applicable to residential schools, colleges, Maulana Azad Model English Medium schools coming under the Minority Welfare Department,” Manivannan said on Wednesday.
The new circular was issued the same day Karnataka Higher Education Minister CN Ashwathnarayan backtracked after saying that the High Court’s direction was not applicable to degree colleges, The New Indian Express reported.
A tweet from his office later said that “schools-colleges violating dress code even after court’s direction is unpardonable”.
Citing the High Court order, the management of several schools and colleges in the state have refused to allow wearing of hijab in classrooms.
Hijab ban protests
Many Muslim students in Karnataka have been agitating through the past month after they were not allowed to attend classes wearing hijabs. On February 5, the Karnataka government had passed an order banning clothes that “disturb equality, integrity and public order”.
Earlier this week, videos showed women being told to take off their hijabs and burqas at the gates of educational institutions, prompting condemnation on social media.
Last week, Hindu students and mobs of men protested against Muslim women wearing hijabs to educational institutes at several places in Karnataka. At some colleges, Muslim students were heckled, while in another case, some men climbed up a flagpole to plant a saffron flag and broke into classrooms.
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