The right of religion is reserved in the country’s constitution; the Supreme Court raised the question of how reasonable it is to drag it into educational institutions. The Supreme Court made such a comment in the hearing of the Karnataka Hijab Row case. The court’s question, “The right to practice religion can be enforced. But can the right to worship be taken away from a school with a specific uniform?” If so, can students wear miniskirts to school for the sake of rights, the court asked.
Highlights:–
• Supreme court questions on hijab case.
• Students can go wearing mini skirts .
A debate has been going on for days over girls wearing hijab in schools in Karnataka. That case reached the Supreme Court. The court made such comments in its hearing on Monday. Justice Hemant Gupta is said to have said, “Let’s assume for a moment, one has the right to wear a hijab, a scarf or anything else of one’s choice in school. But where the school has a specific uniform, can the hijab be worn there!”
On 13th March in the case of hijab Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court said, “According to the importance of the whole incident, we have formulated some questions. Those questions have been answered. We wanted to know,
1. Hijab is mandatory in Islam?
2. Does banning hijab in educational institutions interfere with freedom of expression and right to personal privacy?
3. Was the directive issued by the government on February 5 without thinking? Does the government issue these guidelines arbitrarily? We got answers to these questions. According to the Islamic faith, hijab is not obligatory. Therefore, the petition challenging the decision to ban hijab in educational institutions is being dismissed.
The Bengaluru police has banned protests and victory marches from March 21 to ensure that there is no unrest or untoward situation in view of the court’s verdict. In this context, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Panth said, “For a week from March 15 to March 21, all kinds of gatherings, demonstrations, protests or court judgments cannot be celebrated in Bengaluru.”
Following this, the plaintiffs’ lawyer compared the veil to the hijab as a school uniform. He questioned why the hijab was objected to if there was a veil in the school uniform. But the judges said, “There is a difference between veil and hijab. Veils are used to cover the shoulders.” In response, Justice Gupta said, “Sikh girls in Punjab wear headscarves only when going to Gurdwaras.” Nothing more than that.
After this, Rajiv Dhawan, another lawyer of the litigants presented the constitution in the court. He said that the constitution of the country has given every citizen the right to religion. Hijab is also worn in it. Therefore, the court should consider the matter seriously. In response, Justice Gupta said, “The right to practice religion may or may not be essential.” But can religion be emphasized in government institutions, especially in the preamble of the Constitution which mentions India as a secular country!’
Several restaurants and golf courses also have dress codes, the court noted. The court further added, “Educational institutions cannot impose dress code. But in that case, can a student wear a miniskirt, midi or whatever he wants to school? A hija or scarf may be worn. But how logical it is to drag the right of religion inside the educational institution! The right to education is not being taken away. The next hearing of this case is on September 7.
