Hijab not an essential religious practice: K'taka Govt
Highlights
- AG quoted from the Sabarimala case during the hearing in high court
- As soon as the proceedings began, CJ said certain clarifications were required related to Hijab
Hijab controversy: The Karnataka government on Monday reiterated that Hijab is not an essential religious practice and said religious instructions should be kept outside the educational institutions. "This is our stand that Hijab is not an essential religious practice. There was a statement by Dr B R Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly where he said 'let us keep the religious instructions outside educational institutions'," Karnataka Advocate General Prabhuling Navadgi told the full bench of the High Court, which is hearing the Hijab case.
The full bench comprises Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice J M Khazi and Justice Krishna M Dixit. According to the AG, only the essential religious practice gets protection under the Article 25, which guarantees the citizens to practice the faith of their choice. He also referred to "reforms in the religion" as part of the Article 25. As soon as the proceedings began, CJ Awasthi said certain clarifications were required related to Hijab.
"You have argued that government order is innocuous and the state government has not banned Hijab and not put any restrictions on it. The GO says that the students should wear the prescribed uniform. What is your stand -- whether Hijab can be permitted or not in the educational institutions?" the Chief Justice asked.
The AG quoted from the Sabarimala case, where the Court quoted the case of Durgah Committee, Ajmer v Syed Hussain Ali. The court had emphasized that purely secular matters clothed with a religious form do not enjoy protection as an essential part of religion.
Apart from engaging in a judicial inquiry to determine whether a practice claimed to be essential was in fact grounded in religious scriptures, beliefs, and tenets, the court said, it would 'carefully scrutinize' that the practice claiming constitutional protection does not claim superstition as its base.
In reply, Navadgi said if the institutions allow it, then the government would possibly take a decision as and when the issue arises. On January one, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into the classroom by wearing Hijab.
This comes four days after they requested the principal permission to wear Hijabs in classes which was not allowed. Till then, students used to wear Hijab to the campus and entered the classroom after removing the scarves, the college principal Rudre Gowda had said. “The institution did not have any rule on Hijab-wearing as such and since no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces,” Rudre Gowda had said.
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