Cloaked In Controversy: An In-Depth Examination Of Hijab Verdicts And Their Implications

Ms. Priyanka, Assistant Professor, ICFAI Law School, IFHE Hyderabad

Mr. Nikhil Bajpai, Assistant Professor, ICFAI Law School, IFHE Hyderabad

Introduction

“Hijab is my right and I will fight for it till last”. Number of Muslim women and girls were fighting for their right to wear hijab as a religious practice and human right as they were locked out of schools and colleges for wearing hijab1. Islamic veils have been a subject of controversy initially in Karnataka and now is a matter of discussion not only in India but other countries too after Karnataka HC upheld the decision of government to ban hijab in school and colleges. In a recent news one of the petitioners was seen urging to school authorities to allow her to write her exams wearing hijab as it is a matter of her religion and career both.

As the hijab controversy was going on few girl students filed a petition before the Karnataka HC. While upholding the ban on wearing hijab in government colleges, the Karnataka High Court said that requiring all students to wear a uniform will foster a sense of "constitutional secularism" within the school. "The school regulations dictating a uniform dress code for all students as a single class reflect constitutional secularism2,". The important question that needs to be answered is, if we have freedom to wear religious cloths and what is the ambit of this religious freedom? Does Disallowing or locking out women out of school for wearing hijab or any religious cloth lead to violation of right to education, Freedom of religion as well as human rights?