India News | SC Verdict on Hijab Ban: Congress Says Matter Will Continue to Attract Court's Attention, BJP Asserts Religious Freedom Cannot Be Used to Promote 'separatism'

New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) Soon after the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the hijab ban, Congress said the matter will continue to attract the apex court's attention while BJP asserted that it will always be opposed to students wearing any dress other than uniform in a school, noting that religious freedom cannot be used to promote "separatism".

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, however, welcomed the comments of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia (of the top court), saying the Karnataka High Court verdict "was bad in law and bad in terms of its comments".

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The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a split verdict on the ban on hijabs in Karnataka's educational institutions and referred the matter to the chief justice of India for constituting a larger bench.

While Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed the appeals against the March 15 verdict of the Karnataka High Court that had refused to lift the ban and held that hijab is not part of "essential religious practice" in Islamic faith, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the pleas and observed that it is ultimately a "matter of choice".

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"There is divergence of opinion," Justice Gupta, who was heading the bench, said at the outset while pronouncing the verdict on a batch of 26 petitions.

Soon after the top court's verdict, Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh tweeted in Hindi, "The Supreme Court's split verdict in the hijab case means that the matter will continue to attract that court's attention. Meanwhile, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will continue to demand accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on rising economic inequality, social polarisation and political dictatorship."

BJP general secretary C T Ravi said it will not be appropriate for him to comment on the judgement. But Ravi said he will always speak against the "separatist mindset" that, he claimed, promotes the use of hijab or headscarf in schools.

"Uniform in schools is meant to promote uniformity among students. I believe that separatism is promoted in the garb of issues like promotion of burqa or hijab. This mindset was the reason behind India's Partition. This separatism progressively morphs into extremism which can be a source of terrorism," he claimed.

Rules mandating wearing uniform in Karnataka schools have been in force since 1965, he said.

Citing protests in Iran, an Islamic country, against the mandatory use of hijabs, the BJP leader claimed that religious freedom in India cannot mean promotion of "separatist" designs.

The issue is not about wearing or not wearing hijab but what to wear in schools, he said, adding that there should be no hijab or other dresses in schools but only uniforms.

AIMIM chief Owaisi said now "we would have to wait further on what the chief justice of India does" and he would comment further only after reading the entire judgement.

"We were hoping that there would be a resolution of the issue. However, one judge of the Supreme Court has given verdict in favour of hijab, and in my opinion the Karnataka High Court verdict was bad in law and bad in terms of its comments," he said.

Karnataka girls are wearing hijab because it is written in the Quran. The BJP created an issue and banned it, Owaisi noted, adding that the high court has "wrongly" used Quran quotes and "misused" commentaries.

"We were expecting a unanimous decision in favour of Karnataka girls wearing hijab," Owaisi said, as he shared on Twitter the remarks of Justice Dhulia favouring wearing of hijab.

Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh on Thursday said the Karnataka High Court order upholding the state government's ban on hijab on school and college campuses will remain valid following a split verdict by the Supreme Court on the issue. "The Karnataka High Court order will remain valid. Hence, in all our schools and colleges, under Karnataka Education Act, 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 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.

Wading into the row, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said men should strengthen their minds and free women from hijab.

"The men who could not control their excitement upon seeing women forced to wear hijab. The need was to strengthen their mind, but the punishment was given to the women, they were covered from head to toe. This is a grave injustice," Vij said in a tweet in Hindi.

Vij's tweet came shortly before the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on a batch of pleas.

In the same tweet, the Haryana minister suggested, "Men should strengthen their minds and free women from hijab."

In February, amid a row over some students wearing hijab in Karnataka, Vij had said the prevailing dress code in schools and colleges must be followed.

In view of the split verdict, the Supreme Court bench directed that the appeals against the high court verdict be placed before the CJI for constituting an appropriate larger bench.

While pronouncing his judgement, Justice Dhulia said the high court had probably taken a "wrong path".

"The main thrust of my judgment is that this entire concept of essential religious practices, in my opinion, was not essential for the disposal of the dispute. And the court probably took wrong path there. It was simply a question of Article 19(1) (a), its applicability and Article 25(1) primarily. And it is ultimately a matter of a choice, nothing more, nothing less," he said.

Justice Dhulia said while deciding this case, the education of girl child was on his mind.

"It is common knowledge that already a girl child primarily in rural areas and semi-urban areas has a lot of difficulties to face," he said, adding, "So are we making her life any better, that was also in my mind". PTI SKC KR

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)