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2022 Karnataka hijab row

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At the beginning of January 2022, a dispute erupted in the Indian state of Karnataka, when Muslim students wearing hijab in a junior college were denied entry to classes. Over the following weeks, it spread to several other schools and colleges across the state. On 5 February 2022, the Karnataka government issued an order clarifying that uniforms must be worn compulsorily where policies exist and no exception can be made for the wearing of hijab. Several schools cited this order and denied entry to Muslim girls wearing the hijab. Following this, petitions with regard to this issue were filed in the Karnataka High Court. On 8 February 2022, the Government of Karnataka announced the closure of high schools and colleges for three days after the protests and disputes over the wearing of hijab intensified.

Background

The education system of Karanataka involves 10 years of school and two years of Pre-University college. On the basis of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983 the Government of Karnataka has empowered the school/college development councils to decide on uniforms for their students. For school students, uniforms are said to be mandatory. For pre-University colleges, uniforms were not mandated by the government, but, over time, the majority of colleges have adopted them. The rise in student numbers is said to have been a factor in this trend. Several colleges in Karnataka reported that a small number of Muslim students have "always" worn the hijab in classroom. M Raghupathy, who was Karnataka's education minister in the 1980s, said the government's uniform mandates had allowed both the hijab and the Christian nun's habit. He said that BJP had not objected to the hijab back then.

Muslims constitute 13% of the population of the state Karnataka. Many Muslim women consider hijab to be a part of the Islamic faith. In India, the public display of religious symbols is common, including the wearing of hijab and burqa.

Since 2019, Karnataka has been ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It has adopted the popular Hindu nationalist policies such as baning cow slaughter, and passing an "anti-conversion bill" that critics say makes it difficult for interfaith couples to marry or for individuals to convert to Christianity or Islam.

Incidents

Udupi

In early January 2022, a dispute over the wearing of hijab was reported at a government-run pre-University college at Udupi that had disallowed the wearing of hijab as being in violation of its uniform policy. Six Muslim female students insisted on wearing hijab to classes on top of their college uniform. The college allowed them to wear the hijab on campus, but did not allow them into classes. They were found sitting in corridors and working with their notebooks.

The case was brought to the attention of the media by Ansar Ahmed, the district president of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, a voluntary organisation. The student wing of Popular Front of India (PFI), called Campus Front of India, threatened a protest, prompting the college to arrange a police presence. The political wing of PFI, called Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), is also said to have threatened with protests. The college authorities met and talked with the parents, but remained firm in their resolution not to allow religious attire.

Later investigations revealed a complicated picture. The protesting students had apparently attended the previous year of college following its rules of removing hijab inside classrooms, but this fact was not appreciated by their parents. After the parents discovered the true situation, they as well as the students came to the decision to insist upon hijab. CFI and SDPI emerge as key instigators of the dispute.

Chikmagalur

Soon after the Udupi episode became public, a dispute arose at a government first grade college in Koppa in the Chikmagalur district, which is a co-educational institution. There the Hindu students started wearing saffron scarves to the college in an effort to protest the Muslim students being allowed with head scarves. The matter was resolved a few days later at a parent–teacher meeting where it was decided to allow Muslim girls with hijab. The parents of the Hindu students did not support their wards donning saffron scarves.

Other locations

By February, the row over hijab has spilled over to other institutions in the Udupi district. At a college in Kundapura, 28 students wearing hijab were barred from entering the college premises. The students were very anxious because their public exams were just two months away. The Telegraph commented that their "tearful pleas fell on deaf ears".

On 3 February, Dr BB Hegde College near Udupi barred entry to 9 female Muslim students. One student said she'd worn the hijab for three years at the school without issue. Bhandarkars' Arts & Science College also banned the hijab; some of its female Muslim students found their college's treatment "humiliating".

On 8 February, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College prevented students in hijab from entering, even though multiple students said the college had not objected to her hijab in the past.

The dispute then began to spread to other institutions across Karnataka, between Muslim students wanting to wear hijab and the administrations barring them. The controversy intensified in early February 2022.

Between 4 and 7 February, counter-protests led by students who were against allowing students wearing the hijab to enter the college. These students marched to the college wearing saffron shawls. However, authorities stopped them from entering the premises and asked the students to remove the shawls. The students were allowed in only after they complied with the request.

On 10 February 2022, a lone Muslim woman, named Muskan Khan, clad in a burqa was heckled on her college grounds in Mandya by a crowd of male Hindu students wearing saffron shawls and chanting "Jai Shri Ram". She responded back shouting "Allahu Akbar", while the college staff controlled the crowd and escorted her into the building. A video of the incident went viral. The treatment of Muskan Khan was condemned by many notable figures, including by actors John Cusack, Pooja Bhatt, Fakhre Alam, and footballer Paul Pogba.

Government reaction

On 5 February 2022, the Bharatiya Janata Party led Karnataka government issued an order clarifying that uniforms were mandatory, while also stating that in the absence of a dress code, students can wear "the dress which will not affect equality, integrity and law & order". The order mentioned that the uniform were to be decided by the state government in government schools, and by the school management in private schools. Several schools cited this order and denied entry to Muslim girls wearing the burqa.

On 8 February 2022, the Government of Karnataka announced the closure of high schools and colleges for three days, after the controversy over the wearing of hijab by Muslim students intensified. The Bangalore Police prohibited protests and agitations from 9 February until 22 February within the vicinity of any educational institution. Two Muslim men were arrested when they were found carrying lethal weapons during a protest. Three others managed to flee.

Court case

Several students from the 'Government Pre University College for Girls, Udupi, petitioned the Karnataka High Court against the ban, stating that wearing the burqa was their religious right.

On 9th February, a single judge hearing the case referred the matter to a larger bench.

A three judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi passed a interim order on 11th February. It requested the State to re-open the educational institutions and restrained students from wearing any sort of religious clothes in classrooms until court decided the matter.

Domestic reactions

  • Apoorvanand, a professor of Hindi at the University of Delhi, called the controversy a part of a larger project in which “Muslim identity markers are being declared as sectarian and undesirable in public spaces". He said "It is telling Muslims and non-Hindus that the state will dictate their appearance and their practices,".
  • Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition Indian National Congress party criticized the government and said "By letting students' hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Prohibiting hijab-wearing students from entering school is a violation of fundamental rights."
  • Aaditya Thackeray, state minister of Maharashtra, told journalists that if there was a uniform at schools, there should not be a place for any other dress other than that, saying, "Schools and colleges are the Centres of education, only education should be imparted there".
  • Sikh organizations in India condemned the hijab ban, fearing that a ban on Sikh turbans might be next.
  • Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), the Muslim wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-
    • In a statement, Anil Singh, the Prant Sanchalak (Awadh) of the MRM backed the burqa-clad student who was heckled by youth shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans at a Karnataka college, saying ‘purdah’ is part of Indian culture.
    • The MRM distanced itself from Singh's statement and said that it does not support such "fanaticism and religious frenzy" and supported the enforcement of dress code in educational institutions in Karnataka.
  • Vishva Hindu Parishad - Dr Surendra Jain, joint secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad termed the hijab row “a conspiracy to propagate jihadi terrorism” and said that Muslim students were attempting “hijab jihad” in college campuses.

International reactions

Notes

  1. The Act seems to have been amended in 2013 and 2018.
  2. Often described as an extremist Islamic organisation.
  3. Saffron is a holy colour in Hinduism, but there is no religious requirement to wear it in scarves. More significantly, the saffron colour is promoted by the Hindu nationalist organisations such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad as an emblem of their ideology.

References

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