There were teenage girls in Karnataka who were stopped from getting an education in a government institution for wearing an extra piece of cloth – the hijab. The restriction was challenged. The matter came before the highest court of the land – the sentinel on the qui vive, as it calls itself. Eleven days of passionate arguments and a split verdict came. The matter awaits its listing after almost a year from the judgment. https://thewire.in/law/two-hijab-cases-one-lesson
another Indian state, this time a private minority institution, again the issue of uniform and hijab. The court order, interestingly, but unsurprisingly, is vastly different.
The order records the prosecution story of how a private minority institution in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, has a uniform of shalwar-qameez and hijab for girls students, and non-Muslim students are not being allowed to put tilak and tie kalawa. Urdu is being taught as a compulsory subject.
The parents of non-Muslim students denied claims of religious symbols being forced on their children.
The state government promptly suspended the license of the private school.
In Karnataka, the latter part of 2021 and 2022 witnessed strong protests by young Muslim women and the Muslim community at large against the restriction on hijab. With the state government and judiciary supporting the restriction, the state of Karnataka witnessed a steep dropout rate of Muslim women from government institutions and pre-university colleges. Those who could afford, opted for private institutions to continue their studies, others vanished from the face of educational statistics.
13/09/2023
