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Questioning the government order which prohibits wearing headscarves, senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for the petitioners, on Monday, told the Karnataka High Court that leaving it to the college committee to decide whether the hijab is allowed or not is totally illegal.
A bench of the three judges comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi was hearing the various petitions challenging the ban on Hijab in educational institutes in the state on Monday. Senior advocate Kamat apprised the Court that a government order said the wearing of hijab is not protected by Article 25 and it left it to the College Development Committee to decide whether an exception should be made for hijab. Advocate Kamat said that wearing of hijab not protected by Article 25 is not correct and leaving it to the college committee is completely illegal. During the hearing, an advocate made a mention of an application to restrict media and social media comments on issues as elections are going on in other states and to postpone the matter after elections. The Court said that if Election Commission had made this request or some authorities then the bench could consider this. The Court said it cannot restrict media. Meanwhile, the Court also asked if an essential religious practice is absolute or susceptible to regulation by law. Advocate Kamat replied that as far as core religious practices are concerned, it is under Article 25 (1) and that it is not absolute. Advocate Kamat clarified that if core religious practices harm or offend public order then they can be regulated. The Court also asked if everything stated in Quran is an essential religious practice. The advocate said, "I am not saying that." He further added that he did not want to go deeper into essential religious practice and reiterated that wearing scarves is essential to the practice of the Islamic faith. Advocate Kamat apprised Court that the petitioners in this case since admission were wearing headscarves and going to colleges for the past two years. Advocate Kamat said the petitioners said that they will cover head with the same colour of uniform The Karnataka High Court will continue hearing on Tuesday various petitions challenging the ban on headscarves in educational institutes. The Hijab protests in Karnataka began in January this year when some students of Government Girls PU college in the Udupi district of the state alleged that they had been barred from attending classes. During the protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for wearing hijab.Following this incident, students of different colleges arrived at Shanteshwar Education Trust in Vijayapura wearing saffron stoles. The situation was the same in several colleges in the Udupi district. The pre-University education board had released a circular stating that students can wear only the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious practices will be allowed in colleges. (ANI)
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