Karnataka AG assures state will not take any untoward action on hijab

Bengaluru: Taking note of several incidents in Karnataka where Muslim girls are being denied entry by college authorities citing High Court's interim order, the Karnataka Advocate General on Monday assured that efforts have been initiated by the state to ensure that officials of its Education department do not act in an "untoward" manner.

Advocate General Prabhuling Navadgi was reacting to a memorandum presented by Mohammed Tahir, an advocate for petitioners against the hijab ban, who argued that the interim order has been interpreted by Education and state authorities as a general ban on wearing religious attire to colleges.

In response, the advocate general said that he has addressed a letter to the Chief Secretary and asked him to convene a meeting of all concerned.

He further said that he has communicated with the principal secretary of the Education department, who assured the state that nothing untoward will be done.

"All action taken will be reported to the court," the advocate general told the full bench of the High Court.

The full bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna M Dixit and Justice Jaibunnisa M Khazi is hearing the batch of petitions against the hijab ban that led to protests on campuses across the state.

The bench had earlier passed an interim order, directing students not to wear hijab, saffron shawls (bhagwa) or use any religious flags while attending classes in Karnataka colleges which have a prescribed uniform in the interim.

The AG has argued that hijab could either be essential to religion or optional for followers. "The petitioners are seeking a declaration of a particular dress format to become part of religious sanction so as to bind every woman who follows the Islamic faith. That is the seriousness of the claim," the AG said in court.

He further said that Article 25 speaks about the protection of religious practice and not essential religious practices. "It is impossible to define what exactly is religion," AG Navadgi said, adding, "this is especially for Hindu religion."

The hearing on the case will resume at 2.30 PM on Tuesday (February 22, 2022)