Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 14: The high schools up to class 10 in Karnataka reopened on Monday and in most parts of the state functioned normally after a near week-long Hijab row forced holiday which witnessed violence and tension last week in sensitive areas of Dakshina Kannada and Bengaluru. Colleges are on holiday till February 16.
As a precautionary measure, the authorities imposed prohibitory orders in sensitive areas in Udupi district from where the hijab row had original sparked off. Official sources claimed that in Udupi district, all the schools that reopened on Monday witnessed normal attendance. Muslim girl students who reached the school campuses wearing hijabs, removed them before entering classes. Examinations scheduled for the day are also going on in the institutions.
The district administration has imposed Section 144 of CrPC around 200-metre radius of all high schools in the district from Monday till February 19 to maintain peace.
The Karnataka High Court, which resumed hearing on the hijab row on Monday concluded the day’s session after listening to senior advocate Devadatt Kamat’s arguments, who appeared on behalf of the students barred from using hijab which included the discussion on Article 25(1). He maintained that there was no law that prohibits the use of headscarves in educational institutions and said hijab was protected under the religious freedoms granted by the Constitution and no college development body was equipped to take a call on whether it can be banned in view of public order violation. Kamat argued that if core religious practices harm or offend public order, they can be regulated under Article 25(1).
Earlier on Friday, the court had passed an interim order asking students not to wear any religious dress to class in educational institutions that have prescribed uniforms. As schools re-opened on Monday morning, social media was flooded with visuals from various schools where the students were forced to remove headscarves before entering campuses. Some students went back home, unwilling to remove the headscarves. Parents’ plea that they be allowed to remove the headscarves once they were inside classrooms, went unheard.
Based on the court order, the students, teachers and staff were seen removing their hijabs to enter the school, even as parents demanded that they be allowed to remove them once inside a classroom.
Students at some Karnataka schools were directed to remove their hijabs before entering the campus in accordance with the interim High Court order that said educational institutions could re-open (after having been shut last week) but no religious clothing would be allowed.
Visuals available on social media showed a teacher stopping students in hijabs at the gates of a government-run school in Mandya district and ordering them to “remove that, remove that”. The video also shows some parents arguing as their children are stopped from entering the school. After a heated discussion the girls removed the hijab (and wearing just a face mask, in line with Covid protocols) and entered the school.
One man – the father of two girls – held out for a while but relented after the teacher had an extended discussion, and his children were allowed to attend school after removing their hijabs. Some parents complained that they were “Requesting (teachers) to allow students (to wear hijabs till they reach) classrooms… can be taken off after that… but they’re not allowing entry.”
In Shivamogga 13 students – 10 from Class 10, two from Class 9 and one from Class 8 – were sent back home after they refused to remove their hijabs. The school principal told reporters: “They (students and parents) didn’t protest (when asked to remove) burqas, only hijab. We tried to convince them but they didn’t follow our request, so we sent them back.” The parents said: “We brought the children to write the exam…they did not wear burqa, only hijab. Earlier all (students) used to wear hijabs… there was no problem. Today teachers stopped them… we cannot let them take the hijab off, that is why we’re taking them back.”
Karnataka minister Narayan Gowda, who is the in-charge for the district, told reporters seven of the students refused to sit for an exam today if they forced to remove the hijab. “Seven students with hijabs were sitting for exams but the officers there refused permission. They insisted on being allowed to wear it… their parents were called and all seven then walked out of the exam hall and went home,” he said.
Other visuals being widely shared online also show teachers (from the same school in Mandya) also being ordered to remove burqas before entering the school campus; they were shown removing the burqas by the side of the road and not inside the school building.
In the court, Kamat contended that hijab had been made mandatory by the Islamic scripture of Holy Quran. “We need not go to any other authority and this will be protected under Article 25.”
During the hearing Justice Krishna S Dixit asked Kamat whether everything stated in the Quran was an essential religious practice. Kamat while pointing out that as core religious practices are concerned, they come from Article 25(1) and it is not absolute. He also said if the core religious practices harm or offend public order then it can be regulated. But Muslim girls wearing headscarves are not hurting anyone, he said, pointing out that religious freedoms can be barred only when it interferes with public order. “What is the State saying to restrict my religious right? If they say public order, there will be problem for children of two religious communities,” he added.
The hijab row had started last month as students at a Udupi school refused to ditch the headscarves despite requests from teachers. Five students then went to court. As protests spread, schools and colleges were closed for three days and security measures were amped up in and around Bengaluru. Later, the judge hearing the case, referred it to a larger bench and in a contentious interim order, ruled last week that schools and colleges could reopen but no religious clothing, including hijabs, would be allowed.
Amid the row, a government order last week had left it to colleges to take a call on whether to allow headscarves. Kamat told the bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and comprising Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi that colleges are not competent to take a call on public order and it was the duty of the state to do so. In this case, the state, he said, has abdicated its duty.
Discussing the two sections of the Constitution’s Article 25, which discuss religious freedoms, the senior advocate questioned, “Where is that Law on the basis of which the headscarf is prohibited. The declaration made by the government that wearing of headscarf is not protected by Article 25 is totally erroneous,” he added.
Even Kendriya Vidyalayas permit Hijab of same uniform colour, Kamat pointed out. “Kendriya Vidyalayas even today they permit by a notification, that even though they have a uniform, Muslim girls are permitted to wear a headscarf of the uniform colour,” he said. He also cited an earlier order of the Kerala High Court allowing the students to appear examinations with Hijab on.