Wearing Hijab Not Fundamental To Islamic Faith: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the government order facilitating the enforcement of the proscription of the hijab (headscarf) while prescribing the uniform for students who profess the Islamic faith.

Govt order on dress code under dispute

The validity of the Government Order prescribing the dress code in educational institutions in the state of Karnataka was put to test in the hearings before the Karnataka High Court. 

And does this requirement come under the purview of a reasonable restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a) was a question placed before the court.

To put it simply, whether a ban on wearing Hijab is a violation of a Muslim woman's fundamental religious practice.

“We are of the considered opinion that wearing of hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice,” Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said.

It is pertinent to note that the government order per se does not prescribe any dress code and it only provides for the prescription of uniforms in four different types of educational institutions.  It states that students should compulsorily adhere to the dress code/uniform as follows: 

a. in government schools, as prescribed by the government; 

b. in private schools, as prescribed by the school management; 

c. in Pre–University colleges that come within the jurisdiction of the Department of the Pre–University Education, as prescribed by the College Development Committee or College Supervision Committee; and 

d. wherever no dress code is prescribed, such attire that would accord with ‘equality & integrity’ and would not disrupt the ‘public order.’

On the specific question of legal sanctity of the government order, the court was of the view that school regulations prescribing dress code for all the students as one homogenous class, serve constitutional secularism.

Wearing Hijab cannot be treated as fundamental to Islamic faith: Karnataka HC

In its judgement, the Karnataka High Court has said that the Petitioners have miserably failed to meet the threshold requirement of pleadings and proof as to wearing hijab is an inviolable religious practice in Islam and much less a part of ‘essential religious practice.’

"There is absolutely no material placed on record to prima facie show that wearing of hijab is a part of an essential religious practice in Islam.

"It is not that if the alleged practice of wearing hijab is not adhered to, those not wearing hijab become the sinners, Islam loses its glory and it ceases to be a religion",  it added.

Brief precursor to the legal row over Hijab

For the uninitiated, a controversy erupted in December last year when 6 teenage girls wearing Hijab in a government-run school in the Udupi District of Karnataka were asked to remove their Hijab in order to attend the class. 

The government stood its ground and stated that prescribed school uniforms should be followed in educational institutions. This led to matters escalating with petitions filed against the government order.

Besides, sparks of communal tension, the hijab row ignited the debate around religious tolerance in India.