Karnataka defends hijab ban, alleges PFI planned protests

New Delhi, September 20

Blaming the Popular Front of India (PFI) for the hijab controversy, the Karnataka Government on Tuesday sought to defend before the Supreme Court its order banning hijab in its schools, terming it a “religion neutral” decision.

Cites Iran incident

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said even in Islamic countries, women were fighting against hijab, referring to Iran where the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini arrested for not covering her hair with the Islamic headscarf led to widespread protests

Asserting that the pro-hijab agitation was not “spontaneous” and by a few individuals, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the Karnataka Government told a Bench led by Justice Hemant Gupta that the state government would have been “guilty of dereliction of constitutional duty” had it not acted the way it did.

Mehta wondered hijab could be an essential practice in Islam when people in the country where the religion was born did not essentially follow it. “As a matter of fact, where nations or countries are Islamic countries, women are not wearing hijab. They are fighting against hijab,” Mehta said, referring to Iran where the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini arrested by morality police for not covering her hair with the Islamic headscarf has led to widespread protests.

“In 2022, a movement was started on the social media by the Popular Front of India. It was designed to create a kind of an agitation based on religious feelings of the people and as part of it, there were continuous social media messages favouring Hijab,” Mehta told the Bench which also included Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.