Karnataka Hijab Row: ‘Banning hijab amounts to banning the Quran’, argue petitioners
New Delhi, February 17
Banning hijab amounted to banning the Quran, advocate Dr Rajiv Kulkarni – who appeared as a ‘party in person’—on Thursday told the Karnataka High Court even as Chief Justice RR Awasthi questioned his contention, saying there was no ban on hijab.
“For you hijab and the Quran are the same…,” a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice Awasthi asked Dr Kulkarni.
Noting that the hijab issue was creating mass hysteria and was disturbing the mental health, especially of the poor Muslim girls, Kulkarni requested the Bench to pass an order allowing Muslim girls to wear hijab on Fridays – an auspicious day for Muslims and during the coming month of Ramzan.
“The Holy Quran says that Muslim women should sport hijab and not expose their body parts like head and neck,” Kulkarni submitted.
“Can you show where it says this in the Quran? Unless you substantiate it, how can we accept it?” Justice Awasthi asked.
As Kulkarni said he didn’t have the Quran with him, the Bench said his contention can’t be accepted.
Karnataka Advocate General will respond to the petitioners’ arguments on Friday.
Accusing the Karnataka Government of ‘picking’ on the headscarf alone and making a “hostile discrimination”, petitioners challenging the ban on hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka had told the Bench on Wednesday that Muslim girls should be allowed to wear headscarf as India was a country where people flaunted diverse religious symbols – pendant, Hijab, bindi and turban.
Several Muslim girls have challenged the Karnataka government’s February 5 order restricting students from wearing clothes that could disturb peace, harmony and law and order.
The Karnataka High Court had on February 10 restrained students from going to educational institutions wearing religious dress. The Supreme Court had on Friday refused to intervene in the Karnataka hijab controversy even as it asserted that it will protect the constitutional rights of everyone and will take up the matter at the appropriate time.
