Karnataka HC on hijab row: College students cannot wear anything religious till matter is pending

Bengaluru, 11 Feb 2022 [Fik/News Sources]: Colleges in Karnataka can reopen but students cannot be allowed to wear any piece of clothing that is religious till the matter is pending, Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court said on Thursday.

A three-judge bench of the Karnataka HC was hearing petitions challenging the state government’s ban on the wearing of ’hijabs’ by students in college. The high court will hear the matter next at 2.30 pm on Monday.

Before adjourning the matter, Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi stated that colleges in Karnataka can reopen but no student can wear anything religious till the matter is pending before the court.

The high court had on Wednesday constituted a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice Jaibunnisa M Khazi.

The controversy first erupted in December last year after students of a government college in Karnataka’s Udupi started coming to the campus wearing ’hijabs’. Soon after, other students started wearing saffron scarves to college as a mark of protest against headscarves.

Earlier this month, the Karnataka government ordered the closure of schools to prevent any untoward incidents.

Courtesy:India Today