The court restrained all students from wearing saffron shawls, scarves, Hijab and any religious flag inside the classrooms.
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court, while hearing the Hijab row case, asked the state government to reopen educational institutions. The court restrained all students from wearing saffron shawls, scarves, Hijab and any religious flag inside the classrooms for now.
In its interim order issued by the three-judge full bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, the court also made it clear that the order was confined to such of the institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code or uniform.
“We request the state government and all other stakeholders to reopen the educational institutions and allow the students to return to the classes at the earliest. Pending consideration of all these petitions, we restrain all the students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing saffron shawls (Bhagwa), scarfs, hijab, religious flags or the like within the classroom, until further orders,” the full bench comprising CJ Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi said in their order on Thursday, which was made public on Friday.
SC says will protect fundamental rights of citizens
Meanwhile on Friday, the Supreme Court said it would protect the Constitutional rights of every citizen and take up at an appropriate time the pleas challenging a direction of the Karnataka High Court and emphasised that these issues should not spread at national level.
The SC bench refused to list the plea for February 14 and said it would take up the matter at an appropriate time.
Earlier, the appeal was filed in the apex court challenging the direction of the Karnataka High Court that has asked students not to insist on wearing any religious clothing on campuses of educational institutions which can instigate people, till the matter is resolved.
The appeal contended that the high court has sought to curtail the fundamental right of Muslim student women by not allowing them to wear the hijab.
The high court has posted the matter for Monday and also said educational institutions can resume classes.
What is Hijab row?
The Hijab row started in December end when a few students started coming to a government pre-university college in Udupi wearing Hijab. To protest against it, some Hindu students turned up wearing saffron scarves.
The row spread to other educational institutions in different parts of the state, and the protests took a violent turn at some places earlier this week, prompting the government on Tuesday to declare a three-day holiday for the institutions.
