Indian court says students must stop wearing hijab until final ruling

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: Agencies
12 Feb 16:57

An Indian court said students protesting against their prevention from attending school in universities on account of their hijab must stop wearing hijab until it delivers its final ruling.

Karnataka's government issued an order in support of the hijab ban last week

An Indian court said that students in the state of Karnataka must stop wearing "religious garments" (meaning the hijab) until the court renders a final ruling on whether schools can ban the hijab or not.

The Indian school's ban of the hijab, which runs counter to India's constitution, gave rise to protests against India's rising Islamophobia, as it was seen as an attack on minority rights in India. Muslim student organizations were let down by the ruling, which was issued on Thursday by the Karnataka High Court, with one of the students saying they were being asked to effectively "suspend their faith."

In January, the parents of five students embroiled in the battle for their religious freedom petitioned the high court to overturn the ban, and said that it violated the girls' right to an education and the free practice of their religion.

The Karnataka government issued an order in support of the hijab ban last week. The state government is controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist whose rule has been marked by a rise in islamophobia and religiously motivated violence by India's Hindus against its Muslim minority.

The standoff in Karnataka has stoked anxieties among minorities in the state about what they say is escalating persecution under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist regime.

Muslim students in a government college in India's southern state of Karnataka have been sitting outside of their classrooms for weeks now, as they've been banned by principles and instructors from wearing their hijab in class.

The students were even asked to remove their headscarves, but they refused, and so were accused by the college administration of defying the rules, alleging that the hijab is not part of the uniform.

A global trend of Islamophobia

India's hijab ban seems to be part of a worldwide trend, as France's Senate recently voted to ban the hijab in sports competitions. The vote, which amended a law prohibiting the wearing of "conspicuous religious symbols" was proposed by the right-wing Les Republicains party, and was adopted in the senate with 160 votes in favor and 143 against.

England has also registered a rise in Islamophobia, with a University of Birmingham study showing that a quarter of Brits held negative views about Muslims and Islam.