A day after the Karnataka High Court upheld hijab ban in educational institutions, graffiti saying “Hijab is our Dignity” surfaced in a few government educational institutions and public walls in Hospet.
The district headquarters of Vijayanagara district claimed that graffiti were removed by civic officials.
The Hospet police registered four separate cases on Wednesday in three police stations in this connection, PTI reported.
One among is at Chittawadgi police station based on a complaint by Vijayanagara College Principal Shankar Anand Singh.
“Hijab is our Dignity” was written on the walls of Vijayanagara College, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel School, district stadium and Guru Undergraduate College.
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the State government order effectively banning the wearing of hijab by Muslim girl students in educational institutions in Karnataka.
“Hijab is not a part of essential religious practices of Islam and thus, is not protected under Article 25 of the Constitution,” said a three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi.
Muslim students in Karnataka have been protesting the ban on hijab in educational institutions, saying the Islamophobic move of the Karnataka government violates their religious freedom guaranteed under India’s constitution.
Muslim students, activists, and Opposition leaders across the country allege that these attacks on Muslim symbols and practices are part of the larger Hindutva agenda of imposing majoritarian values on the country’s 200 million Muslims.
Soon after the verdict, Muslim students in Karnataka who have been fighting against hijab ban, Muslim leaders, human rights defenders, Opposition parties said the verdict is enabling discrimination against Muslim students and it suspends the fundamental rights of hijab wearing students.
Hours after the Karnataka High Court delivered its 129-page judgment, a Muslim student from the state approached the Supreme Court against the order, saying it had “failed to note that the right to wear a hijab comes under the ambit of ‘expression’ and is thus protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution”. The student, Niba Naaz, said in her plea that the right to wear a hijab is also protected by right to conscience under Article 25 of the Constitution, which is an individual right, and that the ‘Essential Religious Practices Test’ ought not to have been applied by the High Court.
The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to grant urgent hearing to the petitioners challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict which upheld the Hijab ban in the state. Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde had mentioned the matter before the court today. The Apex court said it will post the matter post Holi recess.
Although students submitted exam schedules to prove the urgency, SC decided to list it after Holi vacation.
Muslim groups in Karnataka has called for Karnataka bandh on 17 March, protesting against the High Court verdict.
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