The issue of hijab in Karnataka had erupted in Udupi district in February this year. (file)
Bangalore:
After the issue of hijab surfaced again in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday called for compliance of the High Court order in the matter.
“There is no need to raise any issue. Court has already given its verdict. Everyone is following it, 99.99 per cent have followed it. Whatever decision they take, it has to be followed. Students should leave this issue of hijab and focus on education,” Mr. Bommai said.
Muslim students of University College in Mangaluru on Thursday visited the office of the Deputy Commissioner to submit a memorandum to allow them to wear hijab in classes.
This comes after the degree college on May 16 issued a ban on hijab or headscarf inside the campus. Students of Mangalore University College on Thursday staged a sit-in on the campus against wearing of hijab in classes.
The students slammed the college for failing to implement the Karnataka High Court order on hijab within educational institutions.
The hijab controversy erupted in Karnataka in January-February this year when some girl students of Government Girls PU College in the state’s Udupi district alleged that they were barred from attending classes. During the protest, some students claimed that they were denied admission in the college for wearing the hijab.
Holding that wearing hijab is not a necessary religious practice in Islam and freedom of religion is subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 25 of the Constitution, a full bench of the Karnataka High Court on March 16 considered a batch of petitions filed by Muslim girls. rejected. They are demanding the right to wear hijab in classes in pre-university colleges in Udupi.
The court also upheld an order issued by the state on February 5 that suggested wearing the hijab could be banned in government colleges where the uniform is prescribed – and ruled that “the prescription of a school uniform is one”. reasonable restriction” which is “constitutionally acceptable”.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)