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Courtroom upholds ban in BJP-ruled state, a ruling which may have a bearing in the remainder of the nation, house to 200 million Muslims.
An Indian court docket has upheld a ban on the hijab in school within the southern state of Karnataka, ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP).
“We’re of the thought of opinion that sporting of hijab by Muslim girls doesn’t kind part of important non secular observe,” Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi of the Karnataka Excessive Courtroom stated in a judgment on Tuesday.
He stated the federal government had the ability to prescribe uniform pointers, dismissing varied petitions difficult the order.
College students who had challenged the ban in court docket had stated sporting the hijab was a elementary proper assured underneath India’s structure and a vital observe of Islam.
Lawyer Anas Tanwir, who stated he’ll signify the ladies within the nation’s Supreme Courtroom, known as the Karnataka court docket’s ruling “disappointing” and “faulty”.
“I imagine it’s a flawed interpretation of the regulation,” he advised Al Jazeera.
“Provided that the ban was issued with out giving one-year prior discover as prescribed by the federal government guidelines, how are you going to move such orders?”
The ruling might set a precedent for the remainder of the nation, house to greater than 200 million Muslims, who’ve been focused by the right-wing BJP and its Hindu supremacist allies since Modi got here to energy in 2014.
The dispute started in January when a government-run college in Karnataka’s Udupi district barred college students sporting hijabs from getting into lecture rooms, triggering protests by Muslims and and counter-protests by Hindu college students.
Extra faculties and faculties within the state adopted with comparable bans and the state’s prime court docket disallowed college students from sporting hijab till it delivered a verdict.
In India, the place Muslims make up 14 % of the nation’s 1.4 billion individuals, the hijab has traditionally been neither prohibited nor restricted in public spheres.
The dispute has led to criticism that Muslims within the nation are being additional marginalised.
Forward of the decision, Karnataka authorities introduced closures of colleges and faculties and imposed restrictions on public gatherings in some components of the state to stop potential hassle.
Final month, federal Residence Minister Amit Shah stated he most well-liked college students sticking to highschool uniforms as an alternative of any non secular apparel.
Karnataka’s ban had led to protests in another components of the nation too and drew criticism from the USA and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.