Hijab no essential religious practice: K'ntaka tells court

Bengaluru: Karnataka government argued in the state High Court on Friday that Hijab is not an essential practice in Islam, and the ordered ban on the headwear thus does not violate the right to religious freedom promised by the Indian Constitution, NDTV reported.

Appearing for the government, Advocate General (AG) of Karnataka Prabhuling Navadgi told the court bench of Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice JM Khazi and Justice Krishna M Dixit that the government's ban order was following the law and there was nothing to object in it.

But he admitted that the part of the order that mandates clothes "in consonance with unity and equality" needs better wording. He claimed that the "draftsman went a bit enthusiastic", and it should have been 'decent clothes'.

Muslim students who challenged the ban in court had argued earlier that the ban violates Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of conscience and free profession, practise, and propagation of religion to the citizens of India. The AG rebuffed the argument and added that it does not violate Article 19 1(a), which ensures the citizens' fundamental rights of speech and expression.

In recent weeks, the Karnataka state witnessed serious unrest regarding the hijab. When Muslim girls protested against the ban imposed on the headwear by a college in the Udupi district in the state, rightwing groups fuelled masses of students to hold demonstrations against hijab, wearing saffron shawls and turbans. Faceoffs happened between saffron-clad demonstrators and hijab worn girls. On February 5, the Karnataka government ordered a ban on clothes- related to religions or those harms the peace and harmony of the society- inside educational institutions. When the Muslim girls approached the state High Court, it pronounced an interim ban on the clothes till it reached a final judgement. Supreme Court refused to intervene in the issue at the moment.