SHAFAQNA- Hard-line Hindu groups demand wider ban on Hijab in classrooms in more Indian states.
A court upheld a ban on Hijab in Karnataka state. The Karnataka High Court decision on Tuesday (15 Mar 2022), backing the southern state’s ban on the Hijab in February, has also been welcomed by top federal ministers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A female Muslim student has already appealed the verdict in the country’s highest court, which could take up the matter later this month, her lawyer said on Twitter on Wednesday.
The ban in BJP-ruled Karnataka had sparked protests by some Muslim students and parents, and counter-protests by Hindu students. Critics of the ban say it is another way of marginalising the Muslim community that accounts for about 13% of Hindu-majority India’s 1.35 billion people.
Ayesha Hajeera Almas who had challenged the Karnataka ban in court said there is a real fear that Hijab ban will now go national. The 18-year-old said she has not attended school since late December after its authorities barred Muslim girls from wearing the hijab, even before the state-wide ban came in early February.
Source: Reuters