Communalism
The minister’s comments are significant because the previous BJP government in Karnataka banned students from wearing hijabs to government schools in early 2022. The issue, which began after the Government PU College in Udupi barred hijab-wearing girls from entering the classroom, snowballed into a statewide controversy.
The ban was upheld by the Karnataka high court in March 2022, which held that hijab was not an essential part of religious practice. The order was challenged in the Supreme Court, which delivered a split verdict in October 22.
Hijab-Wearing Candidates Can Appear for Recruitment Exams, Karnataka Minister Says (thewire.in)
23/10/2023
There were teenage girls in Karnataka who were stopped from getting an education in a government institution for wearing an extra piece of cloth – the hijab. The restriction was challenged. The matter came before the highest court of the land – the sentinel on the qui vive, as it calls itself. Eleven days of passionate arguments and a split verdict came. The matter awaits its listing after almost a year from the judgment. https://thewire.in/law/two-hijab-cases-one-lesson
another Indian state, this time a private minority institution, again the issue of uniform and hijab. The court order, interestingly, but unsurprisingly, is vastly different.
The order records the prosecution story of how a private minority institution in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, has a uniform of shalwar-qameez and hijab for girls students, and non-Muslim students are not being allowed to put tilak and tie kalawa. Urdu is being taught as a compulsory subject.
The parents of non-Muslim students denied claims of religious symbols being forced on their children.
The state government promptly suspended the license of the private school.
In Karnataka, the latter part of 2021 and 2022 witnessed strong protests by young Muslim women and the Muslim community at large against the restriction on hijab. With the state government and judiciary supporting the restriction, the state of Karnataka witnessed a steep dropout rate of Muslim women from government institutions and pre-university colleges. Those who could afford, opted for private institutions to continue their studies, others vanished from the face of educational statistics.
13/09/2023
Young Muslim women in Karnataka recount how a court order legitimised Hindutva prejudice and locked them out of an education.
https://scroll.in/article/1041529/one-year-of-karnatakas-war-on-muslim-womens-right-to-learn
Following the high court verdict, the college authorities told Sayed that she would be allowed into class only if she removed her hijab. “I tried to convince them several times,” she said. “But they just would not listen.” A few weeks later, Sayed was back at home, doing household chores and taking care of her son. It had already been a struggle to convince her in-laws to allow her to go out to pursue an education; she did not feel up to the challenge of persuading them to let her study without a hijab.
While Muslims across India have long had low access to education, those in Karnataka have struggled particularly hard for it. A government survey released in 2013 found that of all states, Karnataka had the highest dropout rate of Muslim school students between classes 1 and 8, at 6.3%. The survey also found that among all the Muslim students in India in the upper primary stage who dropped out of school that year, 73.9% were from Karnataka.
11/01/2023
https://www.rediff.com/news/report/hijab-ban-to-continue-in-ktaka-education-minister/20221013.htm
"The Karnataka high xourt order will remain valid. Hence, in all our schools and colleges Karnataka education act and rule, there will be no scope for any religious symbols. So our schools and colleges will run as per the Karnataka high court order. Children will have to come to the schools accordingly," Nagesh said.
"The ban on hijab will continue. As you know that the Karnataka Education Act and Rule does not permit any religious items inside the class. So we are very clear that no student can wear hijab inside the class," Nagesh explained.
edited by Hemant Vaje
Twists and turns in the Karnataka hijab ban case
https://www.rediff.com/news/report/twists-and-turns-in-the-karnataka-hijab-ban-case/20221013.htm
13/10/2022
Condemn the Karnataka Government for abdicating its Constitutional responsibility to protect the right to education of Muslim girls - PUCL Karnataka - 4.02.2022