From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Feb 11: The three judge bench of Karnataka High Court headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, which on Thursday posted further hearing on the hijab/saffron shawls row on February 14, Monday 2.30 pm, in its interim order released on Friday has directed the State Government and all other stakeholders to reopen the educational institutions and allow the students to return to the classes at the earliest.

“Pending consideration of all these petitions, we restrain all the students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing saffron shawls (Bhagwa),and connected matters scarfs, hijab, religious flags or the like within the classroom, until further orders,’’ the High Court said.

The three-judge bench also made it ‘clear that this order is confined to such of the institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code/uniform’.

The High Court expressed its pain at the ‘ongoing agitations and closure of educational institutions since the past few days, especially when this Court is seized off this matter and important issues of constitutional significance and of personal law are being seriously debated. It hardly needs to be mentioned that ours is a country of plural cultures, religions and languages’.

“Being a secular State, it does not identify itself with any religion as its own. Every citizen has the right to profess and practice any faith of choice is true. However, such a right not being absolute is susceptible to reasonable restrictions as provided by the Constitution of India. Whether wearing of hijab in the classroom is a part of essential religious practice of Islam in the light of constitutional guarantees, needs a deeper examination and connected matters and several decisions of Apex Court and other High Courts are being pressed into service,’’ the High Court noted in its interim order.

It held that ‘ours being a civilized society, no person in the name of religion, culture or the like can be permitted to do any act that disturbs public peace & tranquility. Endless agitations and closure of educational institutions indefinitely are not happy things to happen. The hearing of these matters on urgency basis is continuing. Elongation of academic terms would be detrimental to the educational career of students especially when the timelines for admission to higher studies/courses are mandatory. The interest of students would be better served by their returning to the classes than by the continuation of agitations and consequent closure of institutions. The academic year is coming to an end shortly. We hope and trust that all stakeholders and the public at large shall maintain peace and tranquility’.

All these writ petitions before the High Court essentially seek to lay a challenge to the insistence of certain educational institutions that no girl student shall wear the hijab (headscarf) whilst in the classrooms. Some of these petitions call in question the Government Order dated 05.02.2022 issued under sections 7 and 133 of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983. This order directs the College Development Committees all over the State to prescribe ‘Student Uniform’, presumably in terms of Rule 11 of Karnataka Educational Institutions (Classification, Regulation & Prescription of Curricula, etc.) Rules, 1995.

A Single Judge of High Court, Justice Krishna S Dixit vide order of February 9 has referred these cases to Hon’ble the Chief Justice to consider if these matters can be heard by a Larger Bench ‘regard being had to enormous public importance of the questions involved’. Accordingly, and connected matters this Special Bench comprising of three judges has immediately been constituted and these cases are taken up for consideration, the High Court said.