Lagatar24 Desk
Bengaluru, Feb 18: The Karnataka government argued before the high court on Friday that the hijab is not an essential religious practise of Islam and that prohibiting its use does not violate the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom under Article 25.
“We have taken a stand that wearing hijab is not an essential religious part of Islam,” Advocate General of Karnataka Prabhuling Navadgi told the court of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice JM Khazi and Justice Krishna M Dixit. The bench was hearing the matter on hijab row.
Despite spiralling protests and counter-protests over a ban on hijabs in numerous schools and universities across the state, the senior state government lawyer stated that a February 5 order banning garments “which impair equality, integrity, and public order” was not illegal.
Amid spiralling protests and counter-protests over the ban on hijabs in many schools and colleges in the state, the state government lawyer said that there was nothing unlawful about a February 5 order which banned clothes “which disturb equality, integrity and public order”.
“There is no issue of hijab in the government order. The government order is innocuous in nature. It does not affect the petitioners’ rights,” he said.
“Conscious stand of the state is that we do not want to intervene in religious matter. We could have said hijab was against secularism and order and could have said it is not permissible. We have not. It is a stated stand of the state we did not want to intervene,” he added.
He did acknowledge, though, that the section requiring clothing “in accordance with unity and equality” could be better written.
The Advocate General dismissed the claim that the Karnataka government’s decree on February 5 breached Article 25 of the Constitution, as made by several Muslim students.
Charge of some Muslim students, who had challenged the Karnataka government’s order on February 5, saying that it violated Article 25 of the Constitution was rejected by the Advocate General.
With this, the Karnataka High Court adjourns for February 21 for the hearing on petitions.
