BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Thursday said the Karnataka High Court’s order upholding the ban on hijab in educational institutions in the state will continue, pending a final decision in the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court pronounced a split verdict on appeals challenging the restriction on girls and women wearing the headscarves in schools and colleges.
Primary Education Minister B C Nagesh, who reacted after the Supreme Court gave its judgment, said that the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions in the state will remain for now. “We expected a better judgement”, he said, adding that women worldwide are demanding to not wear hijab and burqa.
“As a democratic government, we welcome whatever order we have received from the honourable Supreme Court. But we expected a better judgment because as you know, throughout the world, women are demanding not to wear the hijab and burka,” Nagesh said, addressing a press conference on Thursday.
“We welcome the Supreme Court verdict. But the Karnataka HC order remains applicable in the interim time. The ban on wearing of hijab in educational institutions in the state remains,” he added.
When asked about organisations supporting the wearing of the hijab in educational institutions, the minister said, “They will always want to split this society. They are using hijab to split the society.”
The hijab row erupted in January this year when the Government PU College in Udupi allegedly barred six girls wearing the hijab from entering classrooms. Following this, the girls sat in protest outside the college over being denied entry.
After this, boys of several colleges in Udupi started attending classes wearing saffron scarves. The protest spread to other parts of the state as well leading to protests and agitations in several places in Karnataka. As a result, the Karnataka government said that all students must adhere to the uniform and banned both hijab and saffron scarves till an expert committee decided on the issue.
On February 5, the Pre-University Education Board released a circular stating that the students could only wear the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious attire would be allowed in colleges. (ANI)